Maryland Gov. Wes Moore falsely claimed to be a Bronze Star recipient on White House fellowship application – says it was ‘an honest mistake’
“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”
It sounds like this was, indeed, an honest mistake. But it should have been corrected.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore falsely claimed to be a Bronze Star recipient on White House fellowship application – says it was ‘an honest mistake’ https://t.co/n8kXO63d8J pic.twitter.com/wOwn5ndOPV
— New York Post (@nypost) August 30, 2024
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.”
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The funniest part of this story is Moore seems to think people will believe this story.
Why would people not believe it? It’s completely plausible, and Fuzzy seems to believe it.
As Moore said, “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.” Do you dispute that? Do you think there is no such understanding?
Or do you dispute that his superior officer did tell him that his award had been approved, so he should put it on his application? If so, on what basis do you dispute it?
As Moore said, “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.” Do you dispute that?
Yes, I will dispute that.
But I will mainly push back on your “Why would people not believe it?” Loads of people would not believe it – rightly or wrongly – because they assume politicians are liars and thieves. They mostly understand the Bronze Star as a medal for valor. And they also retain vague memories of all sorts of these lies made before. IOW, they’re not as “rational” as you try to be and aren’t as pedantic.
Now, do I believe it? Maybe. But I would have more confidence in that if, as Idonttweet says, some journalist looked up that deputy brigade commander and asked him.
This is where a journalist needs to find out who the Deputy Brigade Commander was and verify the story with him. Does his 201 File reflect the claimed Bronze Star recommendation? Or is Gov. Moore simply throwing the Deputy Brigade Commander under the bus on the presumption that no one in the media will try to verify the claim?
I believe that has already been done and the Brigade Commander, now a General, expressed surprise it wasn’t awarded and said he would take steps to make sure it was.
I sure would like to see sourcing on that.
“The officer, Michael Fenzel, who is now a lieutenant general serving as the United States security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, told The Times that Moore had first objected to the idea of mentioning the Bronze Star.”
I’m going to sorta give him a pass. His commander told him to include it as he was being put in for it and it was a sure thing so he did. His former commander has said recently when this came up that he was surprised it didn’t go through and would immediately take steps to make sure it did. If this is the first time it has really been brought up I think Moore’s account makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is if he has referred to it in the past. Believe me, you know if you have earned a Bronze Star or not and if you have been awarded it. There is a ceremony and everything plus it’s right there on your DD214, that thing they tell you to check to make sure everything is correct when you separate from service.
As I understand it, he has never claimed to have been awarded it, but he’s been silent when others have made that claim in his presence, and even to his face. Sort of, “if that’s what they think, it’s not my job to correct them”.
Which is dishonest, if that was the case.
Hmm…sins of omission are not sins?
That’s my understanding too but I can tell you as a Veteran we are very particular about things like that especially Bronze and Silver Stars, MOH, Purple Hearts etc and quick to correct people on it. He apparently didn’t bring it up but also didn’t correct people when they did so this is an odd thing.