Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore claimed Thursday that it was “an honest mistake” when he lied about being a prestigious Bronze Star recipient on a 2006 White House fellowship application.
Moore, who was 27 years old when he applied for the White House position, blamed his Army superiors for the inclusion of the falsehood on the application and said he never corrected the mistake because he was eager to “begin the next phase” of his life, in a statement released after the New York Times reported on the embellishment.
“These are the facts,” the Maryland governor wrote in his lengthy statement. “While serving overseas with the Army, I was encouraged to fill out an application for the White House Fellowship by my deputy brigade commander. In fact, he helped me edit it before I sent it in. At the time, he had recommended me for the Bronze Star. He told me to include the Bronze Star award on my application after confirming with two other senior-level officers that they had also signed off on the commendation.”
Moore noted that his deputy brigade commander “felt comfortable with instructing me to include the award” on the application because he was under the impression that the medal for heroic or meritorious service had already been “approved by his senior leadership.”
“In the military, there is an understanding that if a senior officer tells you that an action is approved, you can trust that as a fact. That is why it was part of the application, plain and simple,” the governor explained.
“Towards the end of my deployment, I was disappointed to learn that I hadn’t received the Bronze Star. But I was ready to begin the next phase of my life,” Moore continued.
During his 2022 run for governor, Moore was credited with receiving the Bronze Star during media interviews and never indicated that he had not received the award, according to the Associated Press.
In his statement, Moore did not explain why he failed to correct the record during those interviews, only noting that he regrets not correcting the application.
“I sincerely wish I had gone back to correct the note on my application,” he wrote. “It was an honest mistake, and I regret not making that correction.”
Moore deployed to Afghanistan as a lieutenant with the 82nd Airborne Division in 2005, according to his official governor’s biography.
The biography notes that Moore was indeed selected to be a White House Fellow and advised “on issues of national security and international relations” in that role.
The revelation of Moore’s embellishment comes as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate – faces scrutiny over his own military service.
Walz has been accused of “stolen valor” by Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance for claiming to have carried weapons “in war” when in reality the governor never served in combat during his 24 years in the National Guard.
Walz, 60, has also made false statements about his rank in the National Guard and has come under fire for retiring from the Guard as his battalion was preparing to deploy to Iraq in 2005.
“Over the last few weeks, our country has grown used to seeing what it looks like when a veteran’s integrity is attacked for political gain,” Moore wrote, in an apparent reference to Walz.
“But those who seek to cast doubt on our records misunderstand something fundamental about true patriots, who have put on the flag of our country and put everything on the line to be called Americans: We don’t get shaken. We put our heads down, and we do the work. And that is what I will continue to do,” his statement concluded.
