Harris antitrust policy would prioritize business growth and competition, says Maryland Gov. Wes Moore

• Vice President Kamala Harris would focus on business growth and competition in shaping a regulatory policy if she wins the presidency, Maryland's Democratic Gov. Wes Moore says.
• Moore's comments could feed the hopes of some Wall Street dealmakers that a potential Harris administration might ease Biden's aggressive antitrust regime.
• Some Democratic megadonors, like IAC Chair Barry Diller and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, have called on Harris to commit to replacing Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan.

Vice President Kamala Harris would prioritize small business growth and large industry competition in shaping her own antitrust and regulatory policy if she wins the presidency in November, Maryland's Democratic Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday.

"Making sure that we are both supporting our small businesses and making it easier for small business to be able to grow, and also making it easier for our large industries to be able to compete within our states and within this country is something that I think is going to be important" to Harris, Moore said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

A pro-growth, pro-competition approach to business in a potential Harris administration would mark a striking divergence from the aggressive trust-busting and merger-skeptical principles that have shaped the Biden administration's regulatory agenda.

"As the vice president is thinking about a future facing administration, there are going to be different dynamics, that are going to require different philosophies," said Moore. "There will be different sociopolitical and just political dynamics that is going to require a different set, a different lens and a different vision."

Moore is a close Biden-Harris ally and a rising star in the Democratic