Bono receives Presidential Medal of Freedom from Biden

The US Presidential Medal of Freedom has been formally given to U2 frontman Bono.

US President Joe Biden presented the highest American civilian honour to Bono, real name Paul David Hewson, at the White House along with a total of 19 people from across politics, sports, entertainment and other fields.

The awards are given for “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours”.

Bono, known for campaigning against poverty and supporting those with HIV/Aids, wore a simple black suit and sunglasses as President Biden placed the medal on him.

He also greeted celebrity chef Jose Andres, who founded the Washington-based World Central Kitchen disaster relief group.

Vogue magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, 75, and Jane Goodall, 90, who is regarded as the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees, also attended the event, where they were both given medals.

Back To The Future actor and Parkinson’s campaigner Michael J Fox, US politician Hillary Clinton and Argentine footballer Lionel Messi were also given the honour at the ceremony.

Bono has already received the highest cultural honour of France, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, in 2013, and was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2005 and was awarded an honorary British knighthood in 2007.

The 64-year-old’s band has recently been holding a residency at a high-tech new immersive venue in Las Vegas called the Sphere, which boasts 168,000 square feet of high-definition LEDs, 167,000 speakers and 17,000 seats.

The acclaimed rockers have released a host of albums over the years, the most recent being Songs Of Surrender which featured reimagined recordings from their back catalogue.

Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, “made history many times over decades in public service,” including being the first woman nominated by a major party for a US presidential election.

Mr Biden also chose to posthumously award a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Robert Francis Kennedy, better known as “Bobby” Kennedy or his initials, “RFK.”

RFK served as US attorney general while his brother John F Kennedy was president, and was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“His legacy continues to inspire those committed to justice, equality, and public service,” Mr Biden said in a statement.

RFK was also the father of Robert Kennedy Jr, ‘RFK Jr’, a vaccine sceptic who has been tapped by president-elect Donald Trump to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.

President Biden’s selections for the Medal of Freedom illustrate a desire to leave one final mark before leaving office.

On Thursday, in another slight to Donald Trump, Mr Biden awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman from Wyoming who sat on the house panel investigating the 6 January 2021 insurrection on the US Capitol.

Mr Trump expressed his indignation at the move yesterday, calling Ms Cheney, a daughter of former US vice president Dick Cheney, “totally corrupt” and wrote on Truth Social that “Biden rewarded her only because she hated “‘TRUMP.'”

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