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Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Denzel Washington receive US civilian honour

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Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Denzel Washington receive US civilian honour

In the East Room of the White House on a particularly frigid Saturday afternoon, US President Joe Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ advocacy and science.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aroused a standing ovation from the crowd as she received her medal. Clinton was accompanied to the event by her husband former US president Bill Clinton, daughter Chelsea Clinton and grandchildren. Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington were also awarded the nation’s highest civilian honour in a White House ceremony.

“For the final time as president I have the honour bestowing the Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honour, on a group of extraordinary, truly extraordinary people, who gave their sacred effort, their sacred effort, to shape the culture and the cause of America,” Biden said in his opening remarks.

“Let me just say to each of you, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you’ve done to help this country,” Biden said on Saturday.

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

Kennedy is father to Robert F Kennedy Jnr, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary. Biden said: “Bobby is one of my true political heroes. I love and I miss him dearly.”

Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, one of Trump’s strongest conservative critics.

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