Gov. Wes Moore got ‘Surrounded’ on a famous YouTube show

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s latest foray into new media came in a stark California warehouse, where he faced off against 20 nonvoters on a wildly popular YouTube debate show.

Moore’s episode of “Surrounded” on the Jubilee YouTube channel gave the governor more than an hour of exposure before a broad audience, which he used to flash his charm, drop his political achievements and convince at least one skeptical debater to vote.

The episode dropped Sunday. Here are highlights of Moore’s turn in the hot seat.

What is ‘Surrounded,’ anyway?

For those who aren’t chronically online, “Surrounded” pits a subject against 20 or more people with an opposing point of view.

The subject is surrounded by a circle of opponents who race to take turns to go face to face with them. As the debate goes on, if the full circle of opponents raises red flags, the person debating the subject is voted out of the seat.

Critics have said “Surrounded” is designed to generate ragebait clips that draw attention, rather than a serious attempt at debate or exchange of ideas. Episodes draw millions of views. Perhaps the most popular was progressive commentator Mehdi Hasan taking on 20 conservatives, an episode that’s drawn 17 million views and counting.

Politicians are being drawn to the show, with past guests including other potential 2028 presidential contenders in U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Pete Buttigieg, the former U.S. secretary of transportation.

Moore, as the target subject, put forth three statements that were debated during the show:

• Nothing shapes policy more effectively than your vote.
• Bad politics thrive when you don’t participate.
• Not voting doesn’t protest corruption – it protects it.

Moore in campaign mode

Though the premise was for Moore to convince nonvoters they should participate in their democracy, the governor circled back to his own story and his accomplishments multiple times.

Many of Moore’s arguments came back to a central point that voting matters, because he was voted into office and look what he’s done.

Among his accomplishments that he dropped into the debates: raising taxes on the wealthy, providing a tax cut for some (though it was modest), establishing a paid community service program for young adults, working with Baltimore officials to reduce homicides, pardoning marijuana possession charges and increasing funding for historically Black colleges (though it was the result of litigation and legislation before his time as governor).

The governor also turned on his charm, warmly greeting each debater with a smile and introducing himself simply as “Wes.”

After one person spoke about advocating for legislation to help kids aging out of the system, Moore embraced them and whispered affirming words into their ear.

Near the end, he encouraged a woman to enter politics herself because she was so passionate.

“I don’t want you disengaging. I want you running for office,” he said to her.

Debaters all over the map

Though the theme of the debate was voting and whether it matters, the debaters seemed to be all over the map with their assertions and attempts to derail the governor.

One man was focused on reducing the number of U.S. House of Representatives districts, others railed against lobbying and corporate campaign donations, and one woman suggested young people were suffering organ failure from taking birth control.

That left Moore in a position where he and the debaters were often having almost separate conversations.

Still, Moore made pro-democracy points.

“Whether we choose to engage or not engage, here’s what’s going to happen,” Moore told one young man. “Every two years, these people in Congress are up for a vote. What’s going to happen every four years is you’re going to have governors and you’ve got the president up for a vote. What’s going to happen is every six years you have senators up for a vote.

“Whether we engage or don’t engage, right?” he continued. “These elections are going to happen. And they are going to make decisions on our behalf, in our name, with our money. And we want to make sure that the decisions that they are making are actually reflective of our values.”

Did the governor win?

Did the governor win, in terms of convincing nonvoters to vote? Maybe. One of three people interviewed at the end of the episode said he was convinced to vote.

Another said he wouldn’t vote but he liked one of Moore’s lines that “skepticism is my companion, not my captor” and one shouldn’t always let skepticism win.

“I’ll take that one with me,” the man said.

Did the governor win, in terms of boosting his profile? Time will tell.

Moore never got rattled and had an easy rapport with the debaters. But there weren’t any flashy or controversial moments, either, the kind of clips that ricochet around the internet and draw attention.

Within four hours of being posted, the episode had drawn over 40,000 views.