BALTIMORE — With less than three weeks until Election Day, heavy hitters in Maryland’s Democratic Party condemned Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox’s acceptance of a gift from a member of a far-right, extremist group at his primary night party.
“Dan Cox gleefully embraced and accepted a gift from a white supremacist domestic terrorist organization,” Carter Elliott IV, a spokesman for Democrat Wes Moore’s gubernatorial campaign, said in a statement. “This shows what we’ve known all along, Cox is a dangerous extremist that doesn’t belong anywhere near the governor’s office.”
The encounter became widely known Friday when The Washington Post published an article with video of Cox taking a comb from a person who identified himself as a member of the Maryland Proud Boys on July 19 at the Vigilant Hose Co. in Emmitsburg.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Proud Boys espouse white nationalist and misogynistic beliefs. Members of the Proud Boys have been charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, an effort to subvert the presidential election and keep Donald Trump in office.
“The fact that Dan Cox’s campaign drew support from the Proud Boys is troubling,” said Maryland Democratic Party spokesperson Ernest Bailey. “Cox’s decision to embrace that support at the close of the Republican primary is disqualifying.”
Cox spokesperson Jen Charlton referred questions about the encounter to another staffer who did respond to inquires from The Baltimore Sun. The Maryland Republican Party also did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to the Post, Cox said: “In the noise of the victory celebration, it was hard to hear what was being said. I was a surprised by him handing me something, and frankly, I did not even keep the comb. I had never seen him before, and I have not seen him since. I have no affiliation with anyone involved in violence on January 6th, period.”
In the video, the man hands Cox the comb. “Mr. Cox, how are you doing, sir?” he asks. “Here, this is a present from Maryland Proud Boys to you.” The two shake hands. “Nice to meet you,” Cox says.
The man told Cox his name was Henry. He wore a dark polo shirt with yellow stripes and a rooster logo, as well as khaki pants, styles favored by the Proud Boys. He also wore a Confederate flag belt buckle, several flag pins and a button that said “Dan Cox for Governor,” according to a Baltimore Sun photo of the man at the party.
The Post reported the video was posted on Cox’s Vimeo account two months ago and there Friday until the newspaper asked about it.
The gathering drew a few hundred people at most to the fire company’s hall, which appeared smaller than a high school gymnasium, to cheer on Cox, a member of the House of Delegates from Frederick. Members of the media and other visitors checked in at a desk at the entrance.
Cox tweeted on Jan. 1, 2021, stating that he was “co-hosting two buses to the Million MAGA March/Rally with the Frederick County Conservative Club in support of President Trump @realDonaldTrump on January 6, 2021 to #StoptheSteal.”
The day before the insurrection, Cox expressed support for Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys. Tarrio was indicted earlier this year for charges related to the breach of the Capitol.
Cox attended the Washington rally that took place just ahead of the attack on Congress. He has said he left before participants marched to the Capitol.
“Cox proudly bused people to the Capitol insurrection on January 6th and now years later, he’s still proudly associating himself with these dangerous extremists,” Elliott said. “Dan Cox is unfit for public service, and this is just another clear indication of that.”
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who has called Cox a “QAnon whack job” and refused to endorse or vote for him, said Saturday he wasn’t surprised by the news of Cox’s party attendee. He said he hasn’t changed his opinion of Cox, and emphasized he would keep working to improve the GOP’s future.
“It’s one of the things that I’ve been working on for a couple of years, and continue to do all across the country, to try to steer us back to a party that can appeal to more people and have a broader, more positive, hopeful vision for America,” he said while attending a National Guard building dedication in Eldersburg.
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(Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Ngan Ho and photographer Kenneth K. Lam contributed to this article.)
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