Trump Implied D.C. Black Men Are ‘Born Criminals’ and His Team Didn’t Even Blink—But Gov. Wes Moore Fired Back with a Clapback Too Savage to Ignore

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is clashing with President Donald Trump again, setting Trump straight and calling out the President’s brazen “dog whistle” this week when he claimed in a mind boggling statement that some Black people in Washington, D.C., are “born to be criminals.”

“They’re hard core. They’re not going to be good in 10, in 20 years, in two years. They’re going to be criminals — they were born to be criminals, frankly,” Trump proclaimed in his Sept. 2 Oval Office media briefing in trying to justify his possible intentions of sending federal troops into Baltimore, like he did in Washington and Los Angeles earlier this summer.

Trump faces backlash for latest dog whistle. His loudest critic is Governor Wes Moore. (Credit: White House/CNBC Video Screengrab)

Not surprisingly, no one standing behind the president seemed shocked or disapproved of his divisive rhetoric, including Vice President JD Vance.

But Moore wasn’t having any of it. In an escalating war of words with Trump, the governor spoke out in Howard County, Maryland, on Wednesday, urging people to ignore the President’s spiteful “ignorance.”

He posted a clip to his official social media page with the caption, “I do not care who you are or what position you hold. No one bullies our children.”

“I want to speak directly to our children, as well, and please hear me loud and clear. Do not listen to what Donald Trump called you yesterday. When the President from the Oval Office calls you natural born killers, children who are born to be violent, I say this: I respect the office, but I will never honor ignorance,” Moore declared.

He then continued to offer reassurances.

“I don’t care what position they hold because I want to be clear … if I listened to the haters and the heartless, if I listened to the Archie Bunker mindset and the dog whistling, if I spent my time focusing on those people who did not love me, instead of focusing on those people who do, I would never be the 63^rd governor of the state of Maryland and the only Black governor in the United States of America.”

Moore’s mention of Archie Bunker refers to the racist TV character from the 1970s sitcom “All In the Family.”

The governor wasn’t done taking down Trump. At a press conference held after a community walk on Friday with Mayor Brandon Scott, Moore continued, “We do not need an occupation. We do not need people putting in performative and theatrical resources because they do not care about the actual results that they’re trying to hope for.”

“But we do need folks who want to be at the table and recognize that people in Baltimore are humans, that our young people aren’t born to be criminals, that they are a resource to invest in, not a problem to solve,” Moore added to applause from the community.

Moore got a lot of love from supporters on social media, who called out Trump’s racism.

“Absolutely disgusting monster. He’s the real criminal! Everyday I wonder what will it take to get this facist out of the White House and into a prison cell where he belongs,” Maria Taylor Gard fumed on Threads.

Another chimed in, “No one is born a criminal (that’s literally nazi rethoric), but Donald Trump is a convicted criminal and is transforming the country into a kleptocracy.”

“Trump is a festering boil, that needs excision. Impeachment Now,” this Threads user proclaimed.

“What a terrible man that Mr Trump is,” another responded.

This isn’t the first time the Maryland governor has put Trump in his place. In late August, the President lashed out at several blue state governors, including Moore, ratcheting up an already intense war of words over threats to send federal troops into Baltimore.

Trump lied about an interaction he had with Moore at the Army-Navy football game last December.

Then he said something that prompted Moore to respond with a laugh.

“I met him at the Army-Navy game. And they said ‘Oh there’s Gov. Moore. He’d love to see you.’ He came over to me, hugged me, shook my hand,” Trump said somewhat slyly.

“He said, ‘Sir, you’re the greatest president of my lifetime.’ I said, ‘That’s really nice that you say that. I’d love you to say it publicly, but I don’t think you can do that, so it’s OK, but no sir, you’re doing a fantastic job. I want to just shake your hand,’” Trump declared that his exchange with Moore went last December at the game.

More responded immediately with a “lol” on X under a video of the President telling reporters about the alleged encounter during the order signing event.

“Keep telling yourself that, Mr. President,” Moore said in a subsequent post.

Both Moore and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have been trolling Trump on social media for weeks now, something that’s really gotten under Trump’s skin.