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Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore is facing criticism for condemning rising “tribal” politics while continuing to push a redistricting effort that opponents say would eliminate the state’s sole Republican congressional seat.
Moore, a rising Democratic star who is being floated as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, gave an Independence Day speech in which he described American history as “powerful,” “painful” and “complex.”
Speaking in the Maryland State House, where George Washington resigned his military commission in 1783, Moore proclaimed that “too many feel that our politics has become tribal, that our political system once felt like a gift, but the politics of today feel like a grift.”
In response, Haven Shoemaker, the top state attorney for Maryland’s Carroll County, remarked to Fox News Digital that “Gov. Moore is proof positive that hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
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Left to right: Democratic Governors Kathy Hochul, N.Y., Wes Moore, Md., and Tim Walz, Minn., speak to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“On the basis of what you would have to characterize as tribalism, he is going to convene a special session of the Maryland General Assembly to redistrict Maryland’s only Republican congressman out of office. Sounds like tribalism to me,” said Shoemaker.
Maryland General Assembly leaders announced they will meet for a special session beginning Aug. 3 to consider a constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting, affiliate Fox 45 reported. The special session follows months of pressure from Moore and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Maryland Democrats to advance a congressional redistricting plan that would likely eliminate the state’s lone Republican-held district.
Maryland General Assembly leaders announced they will meet for a special session beginning on Aug. 3 to consider a constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting, affiliate Fox 45 reported. The special session follows months of pressure from Moore and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Maryland Democrats to advance a congressional redistricting plan that would likely eliminate the state’s lone Republican-held district.
The earlier effort to pass the redistricting bill had fizzled out largely due to Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat who called the proposed map “objectively unconstitutional” and expressed his worry that “the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic.”
Afterward, Moore notably did not endorse Ferguson in his primary race despite Ferguson being one of the highest-ranking Democrats in the state.
After the special session announcement, Moore said in a statement that “for months, I have said that inaction is not an option and we cannot sit on the sidelines while voting rights, fair representation, and the foundations of our democracy come under attack across the country.”
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President of the Maryland Senate Bill Ferguson closes out the first meeting as as Maryland lawmakers convene for a new session on January 8, 2025, in Annapolis, Maryland. (Jonathan Newton/for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“I appreciate the General Assembly’s continued conversations and the agreement to come back to finish the work,” he said, adding, “My administration will work closely with the General Assembly as they consider legislation to ensure our state has the tools necessary to protect voters and defend fair representation.”
Meanwhile, Shoemaker, who previously served nine years in the Maryland House of Delegates, even holding the role of minority whip, accused Moore of being caught up in national politics while Marylanders are “fleeing in droves.”
“His record as governor is abysmal,” he said, adding, “Since he became governor, almost four years ago, all that he’s done is really tried to position himself to run for president.”
Shoemaker also took issue with Moore’s critique of American nationalism during his July 4th address.
Moore remarked that “today there are those who will use patriotism to justify pulling books from schools and rewriting history until it comforts those in power. In reality, that’s not patriotism; that’s nationalism.”
The governor continued that “nationalism is not an extension of patriotism; they are not interchangeable. There’s a difference, and that does matter.”
Shoemaker responded that “patriotism means that you love your country,” while in his view nationalism “means that your country is exceptional.”
“It’s pretty clear to me that neither Gov. Moore nor the ultra-progressives generally think that America is exceptional, and I think that’s incredibly sad,” he said.
Moore’s comment also garnered criticism from Maryland Freedom Caucus Chair Matt Morgan, a Republican, who said, “In Moore’s world, if you’re a parent concerned about explicit material in your child’s school library, you’re a nationalist. If you question the revisionist history framework of the 1619 Project and advocate for accurate, honest history, you’re not a patriot. You’re a nationalist.”
“It’s a neat rhetorical trick: reframe the terms, and suddenly anyone who disagrees with you is the villain,” said Morgan.
In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, the Maryland Freedom Caucus called Moore’s decision to convene lawmakers for a special session for redistricting “a blatant partisan effort to rewrite the Maryland Constitution so Democrats can gerrymander away Rep. Andy Harris’s seat and silence rural and conservative voices.”
“While Maryland families sit around their kitchen tables wrestling with sky-high taxes, crushing energy costs, and a cost-of-living crisis made far worse by Annapolis Democrats, Governor Wes Moore has decided now is the perfect time to call a special session,” said Morgan.
In response to the criticism, Ammar Mousa, a spokesperson for Moore, told Fox News Digital, “Why are Maryland Republicans so against patriotism?”
Gov. Wes Moore (D-Md.) appears on “Meet the Press” in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7, 2025. (Shannon Finney/NBC via Getty Images))
Shoemaker told Fox News Digital that his own county has been targeted by state leaders for “wanting to have age-appropriate material in public school libraries.”
In 2025, the Maryland State Board of Education reviewed Carroll County’s removal of 20 books from school libraries after parents argued the removals violated Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act, which was signed by Moore in 2024. The State Board ultimately upheld the county’s decision, allowing the books to remain off library shelves.
“Fighting to keep filth in public schools and public school libraries, or, you know, even revising history to make villains of founding fathers who have made our country great by just pointing out their flaws. That seems like moral relativism to me and revisionism at its worst,” said Shoemaker.
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Shoemaker said that it is policies such as these, along with continuously “hiked taxes,” that prompted him to announce he is moving out of the state at the end of his term. He says he is not the only one calling it quits on Maryland under the current leadership.
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“I’ve talked to a lot of people; most of them say that they don’t blame me a bit for fleeing Maryland, and a substantial number of those folks say that they’re right behind me,” he said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Maryland State Board of Education for comment.
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