Maryland will not stay quiet in the face of the Trump administration, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said during a town hall held at the University of Maryland on Tuesday.
More than 300 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees attended the town hall at Stamp Student Union. The event was held on the second day of this year’s AFSCME Maryland Council 3 leadership conference.
“I want to send a message loud and clear that the state of Maryland is a hard target and not one that you want to mess with,” Moore said. “We’re built different.”
Moore gave his speech on the same day that he officially announced his reelection bid for governor. Moore’s speech comes amid rising tensions between him and U.S. President Donald Trump.
During his speech, Moore criticized Trump for firing over 12,000 Maryland federal workers, denying federal disaster relief funding to parts of western Maryland affected by flooding and considering dismantling Medicare and Medicaid, Moore said.
[Gov. Moore promises to fight Trump’s intended National Guard deployment in Baltimore]
According to Moore, Maryland was created by union strength and when people stand as a collective, it’s harder to go after them.
“We don’t fight for ourselves, we fight for others, which is something they don’t even understand,” Moore said.
AFSCME president Lee Saunders spoke about how working people have been impacted by Trump’s policies, such as federal worker firings, worsening workplace safety and dismantled collective bargaining agreements, he said.Saunders also criticized Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Trump signed off on the large tax and spending bill in July, which consists of tax breaks, budget cuts and other Republican initiatives.
Saunders said the bill is not beautiful at all. Taking away healthcare and food assistance for millions of Americans isn’t pretty, he added.
“This is reality staring us in the face with what’s going on in Washington, D.C. right now, enriching the wealthy few at the expense of the working many,” Saunders said.
[U.S. Supreme Court lets Trump proceed with mass Education Department layoffs]
Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman also gave a speech at the event, speaking about how the state is working to help workers and make Maryland more affordable.
Her office has investigated workplace fraud and worker misclassification, she said. It has told private equity companies that the state won’t invest with them if they mistreat their workers, Lierman added.
The comptroller also echoed Moore’s mention of the federal job losses in Maryland and added that nearly half a million federal workers were stripped of their union rights by an executive order in August.
Trump signed an order earlier this year that terminated collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees, the Associated Press reported.
“Let me be crystal clear, that’s not just wrong, it’s un-American, and I am proud to stand with Governor Moore and Attorney General Anthony Brown as we fight back in court, because when you come for workers rights, you’re going to have to go through all of us too,” Lierman said.
