As a U.S. Army veteran, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is familiar with being in the crosshairs, but perhaps not quite like this.
He was caught in a firestorm of controversy this week after The New York Times reported Thursday that the governor inaccurately claimed to have received a Bronze Star in a 2006 application for a White House fellowship.
Moore has described the misstatement as “an honest mistake” made at the behest of his commanding officer after he was assured that the honor was forthcoming.
But this wasn’t the first time that critics have questioned biographical statements made by Moore, a rising star in Democratic national politics. The governor’s detractors have previously taken issue with Moore’s assertion that he is a Baltimore native, and that he was named to the Maryland Football Hall of Fame.
Instead, Moore was born in Takoma Park, spent most of his childhood in the Bronx, and didn’t have a Baltimore address until he enrolled in Johns Hopkins University in 1998 shortly before his 20th birthday. There is no such organization as the Maryland Football Hall of Fame. In reality, Moore was honored in 2002 by the Baltimore chapter of the National Football Foundation for having been named a Rhodes Scholar, according to The New York Times.
Below are five times that Moore either misstated or failed to correct the record about the Bronze Star or his childhood:
C-SPAN interview in 2006
On the 2006 fellowship application, Moore wrote that he was “named to the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame.” When that claim was repeated later that year in an Aug. 25, 2006, interview with C-SPAN host Brian Lamb, who said, “And you’re already in the Maryland Hall of Fame, is that right?” Moore laughs and nods his head, though his verbal response was inaudible.
PBS NewsHour interview in 2008
On Dec. 1, 2008, Moore appeared on the “PBS NewsHour” with Gwen Ifill, who described him this way: “He completed a combat tour of duty of Afghanistan and received a Bronze Star.” Moore did not react to the claim and did not correct Ifill.
‘The Colbert Report’ in 2010
On June 21, 2010, Stephen Colbert, host of “The Colbert Report,” introduced Moore to his Comedy Central office by summarizing his wartime experience: “You’re a decorated veteran of the Afghan War, correct?” Colbert asks. Moore responds “Yes.”
‘The Bronze Star,” Colbert asks, and the audience erupts in cheers. While Moore doesn’t respond verbally, he is seen nodding his head up and down.
Book tour interview in 2010
On May 12, 2010, Moore failed to contradict PBS broadcast veteran Judy Woodruff who interviewed him during his book tour and described him as “a Baltimore native.” Woodruff went on to summarize his book, “The Other Wes Moore,” as being about “two boys living in Baltimore with similar stories and an identical name.”
FAN interview in 2020
On July 20, 2020, Moore appeared on the Family Action Network (FAN) and described himself to interviewer Ava Thompson Greenwell as “a very, very proud Baltimore resident and Baltimore native.”