What do Lionel Messi, Hillary Clinton and Bono have in common? Yes, they all have an “o” in the spelling of their name, but that’s not the correct answer. Because these personalities will all receive the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden on Saturday. This is the highest American civilian distinction, which rewards “individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States” or to “world peace”.
The American president who is still in office is therefore taking advantage of the time he has left at the White House to honor as many people as possible. There will therefore be the footballer Lionel Messi and the singer Bono, but also the basketball legend Magic Johnson, the high priestess of fashion Anna Wintour, the actors Denzel Washington or Michael J. Fox, the fashion designer Ralph Lauren…
From Clinton to Kennedy
The Democrat will also distinguish committed personalities such as chef José Andrés, founder of the NGO World Central Kitchen, and primatologist Jane Goodall, a leading voice for environmental protection. Another name on the list, the financier and philanthropist George Soros and the Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Posthumously, Joe Biden also chose to distinguish Robert Francis Kennedy, “Bobby” Kennedy. Minister of Justice when his brother “JFK” was president, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 while running for the Democratic nomination. Bobby Kennedy is the father of Robert Kennedy Jr, the vaccine skeptic chosen by Donald Trump to be his next Minister of Health.
Liz Cheney also rewarded
These appointments illustrate Joe Biden’s desire to leave his mark, at least symbolically, before Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The Democrat also presented another decoration on Thursday to a sworn enemy of Donald Trump, former Republican elected official Liz Cheney, who sat on a parliamentary commission investigating the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The latest news on Joe Biden
The latter was indignant on Friday, describing the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney as “completely corrupt”, and judging, on his Truth Social platform, that “Biden had only rewarded her because she hated Trump.”
