Former Vice President and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden slammed conservative talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh after he received the presidential Medal of Freedom Tuesday night during President Trump’s State of the Union address, saying Limbaugh “doesn’t understand decency.”
Biden said Trump’s decision to give the nation’s highest civilian honor to Limbaugh was “driven more by trying to maintain [his] right-wing political credentials than it is anything else."
"I do feel badly, and I mean this sincerely, that he's suffering from a terminal illness,” he went on. “He has my empathy and sympathy no matter what his background is. But the idea that he, at the State of the Union, receives a medal that is of the highest honor given to a civilian, I find quite frankly driven more by trying to maintain [his] right-wing political credentials than it is anything else."
"I mean, if you read some of the things that Rush has said, about people, their backgrounds, their ethnicity, how he speaks to them...I don't think he understands the American code of decency and honor," Biden said. "But look, this is Donald Trump."
.@JoeBiden says that Trump giving Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom was "driven more by trying to maintain [his] right-wing political credentials" and that "I don’t think he [Rush] understands the American code of decency and honor." pic.twitter.com/9tZopmOvfC
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 6, 2020
Just one day before being given the Medal of Freedom, Limbaugh, who’s hosted his talk radio program for more than 30 years and has inspired millions of Americans with conservative values, announced he is suffering from advanced lung cancer. Trump’s decision to award him with the Medal of Freedom was met immediately by condemnation from many on the left, including N.Y. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who mocked Limbaugh as a “joke” and said giving him the honor was “nauseating.”
While liberals rage that Limbaugh was bestowed with an honor also given to notable doctors, historians, authors and humanitarians, it seems like a good moment to remind everyone that former President Barack Obama also gave the Medal of Freedom to actors like Robert de Niro, famous for yelling “F*** Trump” from the stage at the 2018 Tony Awards.
So there’s that.