CNN Anchor Grills Dem Governor on Accusations He Misrepresented Military Record and More: ‘How Do You Explain This?’

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan pressed Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) on Thursday about increasing scrutiny over his military record and accusations he’s misrepresented his resume.

Moore joined CNN News Central on Thursday morning and slammed accusations that he’s used his military service for political gain “slanderous.” Bolduan referenced recent reports from The Baltimore Sun that have focused on Moore’s military record and the way he has described those experiences as a politician.

Bolduan noted:

The way they put it is, “for 20 years Moore has repeatedly told versions of his story that do not match the record.” Things that they have gone through are about receiving a Bronze Star and not — you eventually did receive a Bronze Star. Padding your resume for a White House fellowship in 2006. Mischaracterizing receiving a combat action badge. How long — how you got to — how long you served in Afghanistan. Misstating that you earned the top leadership award at the MP officer basic course. They report the Army did not have record of that. And there is more.

“Broadly, Governor, have you misstated, mischaracterized, misrepresented in describing your military service career?” Bolduan asked Moore after running through some of the accusations.

“I have never mischaracterized my military career, and I’m very proud of the service that we all did in Afghanistan and my time throughout the Army,” the governor said.

Last month, Moore pushed back on accusations about his Bronze Star. The governor had included the award on an application after being told it was approved by a commanding officer. The commanding officer later confirmed Moore’s story and the governor received the medal in a private ceremony in 2024. Moore said this and other stories have been exaggerated to hurt him.

“In the interview with The Banner that — you said that you have never been ordered to lead offensive missions in Afghanistan. You also misrepresented your record. You also misstated what happened with regard to the timing of the death of a friend of yours when you were overseas, First Sergeant Toby Meister, how you grieved. You had stated that you grieved his death at your grandfather’s funeral. He died days after that funeral had taken place. How do you explain this?” Bolduan asked Moore.

Moore explained:

I think the article helps to highlight that when I say that, you know, we led soldiers in combat, that we did. That my job was serving as a director of information operations, where I was leading a team of psyops and civil affairs. And we all fall under SOCOM, which is a special operations unit within the military. And my job was to go outside of the wire multiple times, multiple times a week. And the thing that we know is that while my job was never to conduct offensive operations, it was the enemy’s job to conduct offensive operations against us. And we had to then turn around and respond.

And I think about the things that I — that I wrote about. Again, things that all — I factually stand by.

Moore added that some things he’s written about his past are “composites,” but he stands by it all as factual.

“Do I wish on certain things I would have — would have been more — added more context to the reader? I do. And I will own that,” he said.

“What is suggested in the reporting by The Baltimore Sun is that you did this knowingly. That you padded your resume in order to further or set yourself up for a future political career. And you respond to that by saying what?” Bolduan asked.

Moore said:

I think it is deeply slanderous and disrespectful to think that any of us would leave our family, would go deploy to some of the most dangerous places in the world, would go and leave a wire knowing that there is a very distinct and real possibility that you’re not going to come back, that we all then now have to deal with the realities that we have friends who lost their lives overseas, or who came back remarkably different. And to think that we did it for a political purpose. I did not serve because of politics. And I could care less about how this impacts my political career. The same way I didn’t serve because of metals or awards or recognition. I served, we served, we served because we believe in this country and because this country asked us to. And any type of insinuation that we would have risked our lives for something other than the fact that this country asked us to, I find to be not just deeply disrespectful to all of us, but slanderous.

Watch above via CNN.

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