At the White House today, President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people, including Megan Rapinoe NBC News reported.
President Joe Biden on Thursday awarded the American soccer star Megan Rapinoe the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Rapinoe was among 17 recipients, along with gymnast and fellow Olympian Simone Biles, the Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who died in 2018.
Rapinoe is the first soccer player to receive the award and one of just six female athletes or coaches.
As part of the medal presentation, Biden had this to say about Rapinoe:
“Beyond the World Cup title to Olympic medals, Megan is a champion for essential American truth that everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. She helped lead the change for perhaps the most important victory for anyone on our soccer team or any soccer team: equal pay for women.”
Rapinoe, who is an LGBTQ American, said she was deeply honored to receive the Medal of Freedom:
“I am humbled and truly honored to be chosen for this award by President Biden and feel as inspired and motivated as ever to continue this long history of fighting for the freedoms of all people. To quote Emma Lazarus, ‘Until we are all free, we are none of us free.’”
When Donald Trump was still president, Rapinoe refused to attend a White House ceremony after the women’s soccer team won the World Cup, which was her right.
Conservatives, however, were furious that Rapinoe had been given the nation’s highest civilian honor because they think she dissed the Donald, and they proved their bigotry and hatred with a full-scale online hissy fit. Take a look:
Who did Trump give the Medal of Freedom to? Reps. Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes. Oh, and Rush Limbaugh, one of the most divisive and disgusting human beings to ever slither across the planet.
Megan Rapinoe deserves the honor she received today, if only because it triggered right-wingers so damn much.