JOE CONCHA: Biden’s disgraceful Oprah-ization of medals that once meant something

If President Biden’s goal is to anger as many Americans as possible as he shuffles his way out the door, he’s absolutely exceeding these dubious expectations. 

Exhibit A is Biden’s (or whoever is running the White House in these waning days) decision to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to election denier Hillary Clinton and George Soros, who has done more damage to the United States as a private citizen for many years than arguably anyone in the country. 

The Oprah-ization of handing out medals (and YOU get a medal! And YOU get a medal!) to Clinton and Soros comes not long after Biden gave a blanket pardon to his son, Hunter, after repeatedly promising not to do so. And after he awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., for their work on the Jan. 6 Committee that barred cross-examination of any handpicked ‘witnesses.’ And for this part, in 2004, Thompson voted against the certification of the 2004 presidential election won by George W. Bush.

The Soros award is particularly galling given what his billions in activism have done especially to the American justice system. Soros-funded Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a primary example. Soros donated $1 million to the Color of Change PAC in 2021, which subsequently donated $1 million to Bragg’s campaign shortly thereafter. Bragg, for his part, turned cities like New York into dystopian hellscapes, especially in the subway system, where murders and stabbing are currently occurring at an alarming rate.

Take the example of Jamar Banks, who recently stabbed two subway passengers on the New York subway on Jan. 1 and 2. Those passengers are in stable condition. Banks has been arrested (checks notes) 87 times for crimes including weapons possession, assault, criminal trespassing and petty larceny. WHY. IS. HE. NOT. INCARCERATED?

The Soros philosophy is simple: Be as soft on crime as possible. Don’t enforce many laws already on the books. Allow American cities to become third-word hellscapes. So what does the sitting president of the United States do? He awards him one of the most prestigious medals a citizen can be bestowed.

‘This is why I will not prosecute most petty offenses through the traditional criminal court system,’ Bragg bragged upon taking office in 2021. ‘I will either dismiss these charges outright or offer the accused person the opportunity to complete a program without ever setting foot in a courtroom.’

Soros has also funded anti-Israel protests, some violent and deadly, have only divided the country further while indoctrinating students into Hamas-loving robots. 

One man certainly worthy of receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom is Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who saved subway passengers from likely being assaulted or worse from Jordan Neely, who had declared he was going to kill innocents on that subway and didn’t care if he went to jail for doing so. President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance invited Penny to the recent Army-Navy game, while Biden has yet to utter his name.

Fortunately, not everyone was thrilled to be photo ops for the current administration. The world’s most popular athlete, arguably the biggest since Michael Jordan, soccer star Lionel Messi, blew off the event. A ‘scheduling conflict’ was cited, but it’s obvious #10 chose not to be a prop. 

Biden will exit as the most unpopular president we’ve seen in decades. 

And on his way to the exit, he’s devaluing once-special awards like the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the point they’re as worthless as his word itself.