Biden Bestows Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hillary Clinton, José Andrés, Anna Wintour, Bono, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Others

President Joe Biden presented the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 18 recipients at the White House on Saturday—celebrating leaders in politics, humanitarianism, and entertainment. With honorees ranging from Ralph Lauren to Jane Goodall, it’s the last time Biden will hand out the prestigious award.

“As cultural icons, dignified statesmen, humanitarians, rock stars, sports stars, you feed the hungry, you give hope to those that are hurting, and you craft the signs and sounds of our movements and our memories,” Biden said, addressing the crowd in the East Room, just weeks before he’ll be leaving office. The nineteenth recipient is Argentinian professional football player Lionel Messi, who was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, according to the White House.

In the past, this recognition has been used by presidents to honor cultural legends, political activists, and others at the top of their fields. Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama awarded 118 people with the honor, the most of any president, to people like Maya Angelou, Bob Dylan, Bill Gates, Billie Jean King, Oprah Winfrey, and his running mate, then-vice president Biden. During Donald Trump’s years in office, he bestowed 24 Presidential Medals of Freedom. His awardees included Rush Limbaugh, Elvis Presley, Tiger Woods, and Antonin Scalia, amongst others.

Biden used the honor to recognize just under 60 individuals, including Simone Biles, Michael Bloomberg, John McCain, Nancy Pelosi, and Michelle Yeoh.

On Saturday, Biden awarded several former political leaders. Hillary Clinton, who has served as first lady, senator, and secretary of state and made history as the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party, received a standing ovation when Biden placed the medal around her neck.

Biden also posthumously honored Ash Carter, who served as the 25th Secretary of Defense; former attorney general and senator Robert F. Kennedy, whose son, RFK Jr., has embraced Trump and hopes to serve in his administration; George Romney, the late father of former senator Mitt Romney who served as the 43rd Governor of Michigan and the 3rd Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and Fannie Lou Hamer, the civil rights activist who famously said she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Biden gave an award to global investment leader and philanthropist David Rubenstein. And—much to the chagrin of some Republicans—Biden granted the honor to George Soros, the liberal activist billionaire who some on the conspiratorial right have cast as the party’s puppet master.

“Apparently, all it takes to receive the highest civilian honor from President Biden is to donate millions to him and his family,” Senator Rick Scott of Florida wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “January 20 can’t come soon enough.” Representative Eli Crane of Arizona bemoaned that Biden awarded Clinton and Soros over Daniel Penny, the man who was recently acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in New York after putting Jordan Neely in a chokehold on a subway car and ultimately killing him. “Says all you need to know. Counting down to January 20th,” Crane wrote in an X post.

“Giving Soros the Medal of Freedom is outrageous but not surprising,” Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said on X on Saturday. “Democratic politicians support criminals more than cops.”

Biden also honored activists, politicians, and investors addressing issues like hunger and anti-LGBTQ discrimination. José Andrés, who founded World Central Kitchen and sent hundreds of tons of food and millions of meals to places like Palestine, Mississippi, and Ukraine, was also honored on Saturday.

Jane Goodall, the conservationist and primatologist whose work expanded the understanding of evolution, and Tim Gill, a software entrepreneur and donor who focuses on the gay community, were also awarded medals.

Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988 who has raised more than $20 million for AIDS research, was one of the fashion front runners who was awarded on Saturday. She was joined by Lauren, the designer who often uses American imagery in his collections. Activist and musician Bono, founder of the American Film Institute and creator of the Kennedy Center Honors George Stevens Jr., advocate for space exploration Bill Nye, a.k.a. the “Science Guy,” retired basketball player and philanthropist Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and advocate for Parkinson’s disease research and development and multi-award-winning actor Michael J. Fox were honorees, too. Denzel Washington was originally poised to receive the award in 2022, but was unable to attend after he tested positive for COVID-19. He received the medal on Saturday.

“Not a bad group, huh?” Biden said after presenting the honors.