Oprah Winfrey introduces Wes Moore at his inauguration as Maryland’s new governor: ‘A man I really respect and trust so much’

Incoming Maryland Governor Wes Moore invited a special guest to introduce him at his inauguration Wednesday: Oprah Winfrey.

Moore, 44, the state’s first black governor, hosted a show for the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Winfrey promoted him during last year’s midterms.

“Wes Moore has been a public servant his entire adult life,” Winfrey noted in her remarks. “He just started.”

Winfrey called Moore “a man I really respect and a man I trust so much,” recalling meeting him in 2010 when she interviewed him about one of his best-selling books.

“He was wise beyond his years,” Winfrey said.

She also recalled her own time in the state. She moved to Columbia, MD to work at WJZ-TV, where she initially anchored the evening news. In her remarks, she recalled asking billboards, “What’s an Oprah?”

“To be honest, I didn’t really know the answer to that myself,” she said.

But her tenure as co-host was short-lived, and she was later hired to co-host a daily talk show on the network. people talkwhich she said “fueled” her desire to pursue a slightly different career path.

She also recalled a conversation she had with Moore on January 6, 2021. He told her at the time that he intended to run for governor.

“I said, ‘You want to run for governor in this political environment where everything is so polarized,'” she said. CNN was on, she said, and footage of the attack on the US capitol soon followed. Moore was adamant about his plans, she told Winfrey, she told him, “Do it.”

Moore served in the US Army and Army Reserve and was CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation. In his speech, Moore said, “The challenges we face require all of us to heed the call to service.”