Maryland Governor Race: Dan Cox calls out Wes Moore over autobiography inaccuracies

Maryland Governor Race: Dan Cox takes aim at Wes Moore's autobiography

As the election for Maryland's next governor draws closer, Republican nominee Dan Cox is stepping up attacks on Democrat Wes Moore's autobiography. FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald reports.

As the election for Maryland's next governor draws closer, Republican nominee Dan Cox is stepping up attacks on Democrat Wes Moore's autobiography.

At the heart of Cox's allegations is that Moore changed his bestseller "The Other Wes Moore" after questions were raised about part of it that claimed Moore was a Baltimore native when he actually grew up in New York.

The 2010 bestseller contrasts how Moore became a Rhode Scholar in Baltimore, Afghanistan veteran, White House Fellow and CEO while "the other Wes Moore," a Baltimore man with the same name, was serving a life sentence for killing an off-duty Baltimore County officer.

Cox claims Moore's book includes a false claim that the Democrat grew up in Baltimore and says the book should not be on Baltimore schools' reading list.

"To highlight some of the inaccuracies in the book, if you look back there are multiple inaccuracies, the one that I think is most hurtful to Baltimore City is the claim that he’s born and raised here in Baltimore City. That’s inaccurate, it’s not true," says Cox.

Moore was born in Takoma Park and grew up in New York before living in Baltimore as a Rhodes Scholar at Johns Hopkins University. Moore has previously blamed the error on the book's cover, which the publisher has corrected.

However, the uncle of "the other Wes Moore" says he also objects to how his family members are portrayed.

"The book was based upon my family," says Daren Muhammad. "The book was based on lies. The book starts off that this is the story of two boys that grew up in Baltimore, and nothing could be further from the truth. Only one grew up in Baltimore, the other grew up outside of Maryland and in New York."

In a statement to FOX 5 regarding Cox's claims against Moore's book, campaign spokesman Brian Adam says, "This is a desperate attempt to distract from polls that show Dan Cox's values are dangerously out of step with Maryland families."

Moore has declined an invitation that Cox has accepted to debate on FOX 5. As it stands now, the only debate between the two candidates will be held on Oct. 12 in Baltimore.