WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: Radio personality Rush Limbaugh reacts as First Lady Melania Trump gives him the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty)
During his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Donald Trump awarded conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh the Medal of Freedom — a day after he had announced his lung cancer diagnosis.
“Here tonight is a special man, someone beloved by millions of Americans who just received a Stage 4 advanced cancer diagnosis,” Trump said during his speech. “This is not good news, but what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet.”
Trump continued, “Rush, in recognition of all that you have done for our nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and you inspire and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity, I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country’s highest civilian honor: The Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Melania Trump then bestowed the medal on a visibly surprised Limbaugh.
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Limbaugh has been hosting The Rush Limbaugh Show for 31 years, and he is a longtime friend and supporter of the president. He was an early champion of ‘birtherism,” the debunked theory that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
According to the White House, the Medal of Freedom is bestowed to “individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
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