COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) -- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore -- a former U.S. Army officer -- brought the 2024 presidential campaign to Columbus Sunday.
A Democrat and the only black governor in the nation, Moore made stops at two downtown churches – Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church and St. James AME Church – and met with community leaders in the afternoon.
Moore was in Atlanta Saturday for a campaign rally for President Joe Biden and made the trip south to Columbus – a place he’s familiar with having served as a U.S. Army officer who did his basic training at Fort Benning, now Fort Moore.
While President Biden was in Atlanta on Saturday, likely Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump was in nearby Rome.
“I think they're tired of politics," Moore said of the people in his homestate of Maryland and those here in Columbus. "I think they're tired of this back and forth. They're tired of people caring more about where the idea came from than is it a good idea. They're tired of the ‘Tell me which political party that the idea originated from and therefore then I'll tell you whether I think it's an idea that's viable.' I think all of us are exhausted.”
But – to be clear – Moore believes there is only one clear choice as this election between an 81-year-old Democrat and 77-year-old Republican moves toward November.
“I get it. I understand it," Moore said. "I know the number 81 is something that sits high on people’s minds. I would just ask people to remember some other numbers. Like 14 million. That’s the amount of new jobs that have been created under the Biden-Harris Administration. I would ask them to remember the number 3.8. That’s the unemployment rate -- historically low.”
Congressman Sanford Bishop, an Albany Democrat who was with Moore most of the day, said the Maryland governor is the perfect choice to help get the Biden message out in places like Columbus.
The 45-year-old Moore was a Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Army Officer, spending some time with the 82nd Airborne.
“We have got lots of Veterans," Bishop said. "We have people who went through the 82nd. And, of course, it resonates, because people can see themselves in him. Through his family and of course the military connection.”
Moore felt at home just off the gates of an Army post that helped shape him and his leadership style.
“I feel like, you know, my blood, sweat and tears literally are in this soil," Moore said. "You know, I grew here. This place is as much a part of my maturation process and my growing into my own as any place else. I mean, I was first introduced to Columbus, Georgia, when I was 17, you know, when my mom first signed the paperwork to send me to the Army. And this was the first place that I got my first Army training. This was the first place where something that was a campaign slogan is now becoming governance philosophy for our state. Leave no one behind. That started here. It started down in Fort Benning – now Fort More. Leave no one behind."
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