BREAKING announcement ROCKS 2026 race, INFURIATES Trump

I'm joined now by the governor of. Maryland, Wesmore. Thanks so much for. joining me. >> Of course, man. Great to be back with. you. >> So, you have a big announcement as far. as redistricting is concerned. This is. an issue that we've spoken about at. length, but now there is new news here. Can you explain what that news is? >> There is. I mean, this has been a high. priority for me where I I said in this. moment, we are not just going to let. democracy die and we are not going to. let Donald Trump determine what our. democracy should look like. And as these. other states uh these Donald Trump. handpicked states are going through mid.

decade redistricting, I said, "Well, Maryland is not going to sit on our. hands while this is happening." So I. said, you know, I said and I called for. a governor's redistricting advisory. commission that has now spent the past. months listening to Marylanders all. across the state where every Marylander. had a chance to have their their voice. heard to ensure that we can have the. type of mats maps that represent the. people. And just last night, the uh the. redistricting advisory commission came. back with their recommendations of what. new maps uh could look like. So, I'm.

really excited because these maps are. are not just going to make make it more. competitive, but it's going to make sure. that our voices are actually heard and. give us an opportunity to push back. against this this threat and this theft. of democracy that we are seeing from. Donald Trump right now. >> And I I've taken a look at at at the. maps. Uh it seems that the closest. district would actually be D plus8. So. this would in in in theory be um an 8 to. nothing Democratic map. So what are next. steps in this process? And do you expect.

that it'll be in place by 2026's midterm. elections? >> Yes, I'm I'm thankful because the work. of the of the commission uh put this in. place. So there is time uh to be able to. have this in place by the November. elections. And so the next step is now. it's going to go in front of the. Maryland General Assembly. And so the. Maryland House and the Maryland Senate. will have a chance to debate, will have. a chance to make adjustments if they see. fit, but then they will have a chance to. vote and because any type of changes.

need to happen with the, you know, with. the authorization of the Maryland. General Assembly. So the ask that I and. the ask that all of us have right now is. call a vote. If you believe uh that that. if you believe in democracy, it's not. just about preserving democracy from. Donald Trump. Show what that looks like. by having a vote in your own chamber. right now, too. >> Does this go to the chambers before it. goes to the people of Maryland? Can you. explain a little bit of of the process. in terms of who actually gets a say on. this? >> Absolutely. So, the next step is.

actually it's going to go in front of. the chambers. So, the Maryland House and. the Maryland Senate will have a chance. to have to have their debates. uh you. know depending on the legislation that. they will put forward on it uh we can. then have have legislation that is. accepted that is passed and then. incorporated into the into the primary. and the general elections that we will. have later this year. So the next step. is the general assembly the ball is in. their court and uh and we're hoping that. they move accordingly. >> And can you give a little insight into. what you've heard from members of the.

general assembly in terms of their uh. the likelihood that they'll adopt it? Well, the great thing is that when you. talk to the individual members, uh the. individual members that we've had a. chance to speak to, they want to see. democracy upheld. They respect the work. that actually happened from the. redistricing advisory commission who. really put countless hours over these. past months to be able to hear from. Marylanders. and they now have a unique. opportunity to make sure that they can. put their stamp on history and their.

push back against this absolutely brutal. uh takeover that we are watching Donald. Trump try to do on our democracy where. he's trying to alter the rules and rig. the rules all across the country in. order for him to win an election because. he can't win on fair terms. And so so. the the reason that I'm anxious for the. vote is regardless of what party bosses. might say, the people, even the members. of the delegation that I have spoken to, uh they're excited for a vote and. they're excited to have their voice. heard. >> Are there any public holdouts uh for.

this legislation? >> Well, no. I I think you know there it's. been, you know, publicly reported some. of the the challenge that uh that the. the Senate President uh William Ferguson. uh has has had on it. Um but the the. great thing that we know is the way. democracy works is one person has one. vote. Uh and so what we're what we're. hoping for is that for the other members. of the Senate and the other members of. of the House uh that they will be able. to have their voice heard and be able to. make sure that our democracy is.

sustained. You know, I'm I'm you know, and I think even for for for President. Ferguson, you know, he understands uh. the threat that we are seeing here. Uh, I just know that when I'm thinking about. this moment, there's a certain measure. of urgency. There's a se certain measure. of of of fearlessness that we've got to. move. And some of the opponents that I. have that I've heard from, it just keeps. it seems like that, you know, they keep. moving the goalpost as to why they can't. do anything. And my point is, stop. spending energy on why you can't do it.

and spend your energy on why we must do. it. I think that's especially important. in light of the fact that it would have. been that easy for California Democrats. to say, "Oh, we can't do it because. XYZ." It would have been that easy for. Virginia Democrats to say, "Oh, we can't. we can't do redistricting in our own. state because of XYZ." Which would be. bad enough unto itself. Uh this this. idea of okay, how do I get to no instead. of how do I get to yes, but especially. to try and get to know in light of the. fact that Republicans are not looking. for ways to get to know. Republicans.

have have sparked off this process in. Texas, in North Carolina, in Ohio, uh in. Florida now. And so and so the asymmetry. here is is especially dangerous given. the fact that they're going, you know, full speed ahead with this effort that. again was sparked off by Donald Trump. saying out loud that he was entitled to. five seats in Texas and getting it done. And so in light of that, that should be. all the reason that you actually fight. fire with fire and not just completely. surrender all of your power here to a.

Republican party that's that's that's. lawless in theory, but also while we're. watching ICE agents uh um you know, this. rogue secret police agency uh shoot. people, while we're watching uh the. president of the United States. completely unencumbered, unburdened by. his own party try and invade uh. sovereign countries, NATO allies. if if. that's not the kick in the ass uh to go. ahead and and try and take some power. back, I don't know what is. >> And I'm telling in this moment, I I.

refuse to be meek and I refuse to be. weak when we are watching this assault. that is taking place on all of our. communities. You know, in everything. that you mentioned about those. individual districts, this redistricing. process that Donald Trump has inspired. and that Donald Trump and JD Vance are. leading, there's another thing, too. It's the Voting Rights Act. >> Yeah. The Voting Rights Act is going to. fundamentally be the biggest point of. political redlinining that this country. has seen in its history where black. leadership is being targeted. And so.

when I think about this in this moment, I stand here as the nation's only black. governor. I stand as only the third. African-American ever elected governor. in the history of the United States. And. I stand here as someone who understands. the power of our voice, the power of. this moment. And when we are watching. everything taking place in our. neighborhoods that you've just correctly. laid out, how we're watching a an. administration who is using the. Constitution like it's a suggestion box, there is no way my response in this.

moment, my responsibility to our. communities, to our state, to our. ancestors is going to be to sit in our. hands and watch this happen. It cannot. happen on our watch. In terms of legal scrutiny, uh that's. obviously um an everpresent concern. Uh. I think Republicans have tried six times. right now to to to uh undermine the. California map. They've lost every. single time. They're they're at their. last ditch effort trying to elevate some. doomed case up to the Supreme Court. Um.

what are your thoughts in terms of this. map uh with withstanding any scrutiny, legal scrutiny by Republicans? This map. stands on on solid legal ground. Uh it. was something that was fundamental in. the process. It was something that was. fundamental with the redistricting. commission and and we should remind. people that not only was this a. bipartisan commission that was pulled. together, one of the members of the. commission is the former attorney. general, right? This process has all. been done with and in conjunction with.

legal experts with some of the best. legal minds both in the state of. Maryland and around the country. And so. we know that any any argument that. somehow this will inevitably uh fall or. that you will have them come backing. come back with new maps and other maps. and we'll lose seats uh it is just uh. it's it's scare tactics. Uh it's. fear-mongering. Uh there is no basis to. it. We know that what was pulled. together by the commission it stands on. legal grounds and that is that is why we.

believe that they should also move. forward on this. Maryland has both the. authority and the responsibility to be. able to move on this. >> So, we have seen numerous instances. where this administration watches. Democrats fight fire with fire, watches. Democrats fight back and inevitably. retaliates and Trump will retaliate with. whatever tools he has at his disposal. And right now, the the favored tool at. his disposal is obviously um this this. rogue ICE agency. Um, do you have any. concerns that Trump is going to deploy. ICE uh into into Baltimore, for example,

as a way to retaliate against what's. happening here in Maryland? >> I will never flinch when it comes to. defending my people ever. And I think. that the president of the United States. has seen that and knows that and. everybody who has ever interacted with. me sees that and knows that. I will. never flinch when it comes to fighting. for my people. and our state will not. flinch inside this moment. And and for. people who have a fear of what Donald. Trump could do to the state of Maryland,

I just want to remind them about what. he's already done. I want to remind them. in the past year that we've seen how. 25,000. Marylanders who are federal workers have. been fired by the Trump Bance. administration, which by the way is a. higher number than any other state in. the entire country. I just want to. remind people that that not a single. state that did not vote for Donald Trump. has gotten a dollar in federal disaster. relief. And that includes my people out. in the state of Maryland in western. Maryland who had historic floods and.

have not seen a dollar in federal. disaster relief for people who think. that no, oh, he he'll be able to come. after us. What about the fact that he. tried to pull away food from people to. use it as a negotiation tool? >> Yeah. And we actually had to tap into. our fiscal responsibility fund, which is. a fund that was built out with capital. gains taxes, and to say, I'm going to. deploy $63 million from our fiscal. responsibility fund to make sure that. people's SNAP benefits are not being. disrupted despite the fact that the. presidents of the United States has. decided to try to star people to make a.

make a political point. >> Yeah. >> So, so I just I do not understand the. argument of of oh, but what if he comes. after us? He already is, guys. >> Yeah. >> Our job now is to fight back. Perfectly. put. Uh well, look, there are not that. many Democratic governors who've. actually seen this thing through to. fruition. So, I want to thank you on. behalf of myself and everybody watching. uh who has paid particularly close. attention to this issue for stepping up. and making this happen and actually. fighting fire with fire and ushering in. uh what I hope will be this new.

democratic era of of meeting the moment. with the urgency that it deserves. So, thank you for uh for for your leadership. on this issue for making this happen. And on a slightly different note, I also. have to thank you for one more thing. And I know that you know what I'm. talking about here. So, uh going to be a. great season with uh with coach Harbaugh. next year. So, just want to thank you. from the bottom of my heart for giving. us at least one gift uh from the. Baltimore Ravens to our to our halfless. New York Giants. >> Well, and listen, I love coach. Um.

hopefully he can bring uh you know. something to you that that he wasn't. going to be able uh to bring to us. And. listen, every I have mad respect for. coach Harbaugh. I mean every NFL coach. would dream of having a career that like. like John Harbaugh had, right? I I just. know that in this window we have one of. the most unique talents in NFL history. under center. That window for Lamar. Jackson is a three to five year window. uh we had to make an adjustment and make.

a move to make sure that in that window. we need a ring. And so I'm I'm happy for. y'all. Um but I'm but I'm also hoping. hoping and hoping that we don't have to. see Harbaugh in the Super Bowl. [laughter] That's right. All right. Well, Gov, thanks so much for the time. I appreciate it. >> Thanks, man. [music].