US President Donald Trump is looking into this after handing over the presidential medal of freedom to Celtics basketball legend Bob Cousy on August 22, 2019 at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Less than a day after his supporters rioted in the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump would award the presidential medal of freedom to three professional golfers, a White House official told CNBC on Thursday.
The medals are awarded to Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player, who retired, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who passed away in 1956 and will receive a medal posthumously.
Trump, who in his last public appearance on Wednesday called on Vice President Mike Pence to reject the outcome of the election, will hand over the medals during a closed ceremony, the official confirmed.
These remarks to supporters during a protest outside the White House came just before a joint sitting of Congress was convened to confirm the election of President-elect Joe Biden. Pence, who led the event, rejected Trump’s demands to reject legally elected votes.
Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol, breaking the rules of law enforcement and invading the halls of Congress. The riots came to a halt in the proceedings, along with locks and evacuations. The national guard was activated to respond to the attack. At least four people were killed and numerous injuries were reported.
Congress reconvened that evening and finally confirmed Biden’s victory Thursday at 3 p.m.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the country’s highest civilian honor. It recognizes individuals who “have made a particularly deserving contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other important public or private efforts”.
The three receivers on Thursday, along with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Charlie Sifford and Tiger Woods, will be the only golfers to receive the award, according to NBC’s Golf Channel, which only reported Thursday’s awards event.
Trump is an avid golfer, and his business, the Trump Organization, owns numerous golf club orchards. The president has visited the clubs hundreds of times during his tenure.
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