Clinton, Soros and Messi get top honours from Biden

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington are among those who will be awarded the highest US civilian honour in a White House ceremony.

US President Joe Biden will bestow the Medal of Freedom to 19 of the nation’s most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science on Saturday.

The White House said the recipients have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours”.

Four medals are to be awarded posthumously. They are going to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act; former attorney-general Robert F Kennedy; George W Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; and Ash Carter, the former US secretary of defence.

Kennedy was father to Robert F Kennedy Jr, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary. Romney is the father of former Utah Republican senator Mitt Romney, one of Trump’s strongest conservative critics.

Mr Biden’s selections for the honour illustrate a desire to leave one final mark before leaving office.

On Thursday, in another slight to 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 January 6, 2021 insurrection on the US Capitol.

Trump expressed his indignation at the move on Friday, 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 (sic)”.

Star soccer player and Vogue editor also honoured

Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish American chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen charity has become one of the world’s most recognised food relief organisations, and Bono, the frontman for rock band U2 and a social justice activist.

Sports and entertainment stars being recognised include professional soccer player Lionel Messi; retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson; actor Michael J Fox, who is an outspoken advocate for Parkinson’s disease research and development; and William Sanford Nye, known to generations of students as “Bill Nye the Science Guy”.

Other awardees include conservationist Jane Goodall; longtime Vogue Magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour; fashion designer Ralph Lauren; American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr; entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill; and David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group global investment firm.

Last year, Mr Biden also bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Republican James Clyburn of South Carolina and actor Michelle Yeoh.

AP/AFP