The Swamp is alive and well in Washington D.C. And now they’re handing each other favor after favor.
And what Nancy Pelosi just received from Joe Biden has Republicans fuming mad.
Every American should know by now that Capitol Hill is one giant good ol’ boys club.
Most aren’t there to change anything for the better. Heck, most people aren’t there to change anything at all.
They just want to cash in their paycheck, make surprisingly accurate stock purchases and sales, and stay out of the news.
But such blatant self-serving actions doesn’t matter when it comes to throwing honors and awards out to their political buddies.
That’s exactly what Joe Biden just did.
On Friday, President Biden conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, on many prominent Democratic Party friends.
Mr. Biden nominated 19 recipients for the award, five of whom were high-profile Democrats who have backed his agenda, including one who worked in his administration.
Mr. Biden’s selections demonstrate how the prize, which honors persons who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States,” has become more politicized in recent years.
The president has honored the following Democrats:
- Former House majority whip, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. Mr. Clyburn sought to increase the Black vote for Mr. Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary in his home state, reversing his dismal showings in Iowa and New Hampshire and putting him on track for the nomination.
- Former Vice President Al Gore, who has praised Mr. Biden’s climate plans.
- John Kerry, Mr. Biden’s climate czar, was a secretary of state under former President Barack Obama and the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004.
- Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, was a strong supporter of Biden in Congress.
- Michael Bloomberg, a longtime independent who ran for the Democratic presidential ticket in 2020. Despite losing the primary to Mr. Biden, he spent $15 million on TV commercials to support Biden in the final weeks of the general election.
Mr. Biden also posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom to Frank Lautenberg, a five-term Democratic senator from New Jersey. Mr. Lautenberg died in 2013, and Biden gave the eulogy at his funeral, praising their years together in the United States Senate.
The president awarded Elizabeth Dole, a Republican who has served as a United States senator, secretary of transportation, and secretary of labor.
Since 2022, Mr. Biden has presented 17 medals, the majority of which have gone to civil rights leaders and athletes.
The award was intended to be a nonpartisan honor to citizens who have contributed to the country, but it has become more political in recent years.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
