Joe Biden Awards Medal Of Freedom: Denzel Washington Gives POTUS A Hug, Hillary Clinton Gets A Standing Ovation And Bono Delivers A Quip

Ted Johnson

4 January 2025 at 2:59 pm·3-min read

Joe Biden awarded his final Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to a group of 18 recipients including Denzel Washington, Hillary Clinton, Bono, Jane Goodall and Michael J. Fox.

The ceremony in the East Room was packed with family members and friends, including a number of members of the Kennedy family, as the president gave a posthumous medal to Robert F. Kennedy. “Anyone not a Kennedy stand up,” Biden quipped at one point, with Kathleen Kennedy accepting and a number of the late senator’s other children president. Not attending: Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of health and human services.

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Another recipient, Hillary Clinton, got a standing ovation as she accepted her award, with former President Bill Clinton in the audience, sitting next to First Lady Jill Biden.

Honoree Magic Johnson towered over Biden, and lowered down on his knees so the president could clip the medal around his neck. After the president did the same for Washington, the actor gave the president a hug.

Other honorees from entertainment included Bill Nye, the science guy; George Stevens Jr., founder of the American Film Institute and the Kennedy Center Honors; and Fox, honored not just for his acting but his work on Parkinson’s Research.

After Fox accepted his award and sat back down, Bono, another honoree, gave him a shoulder squeeze in congratulations.

Joe Biden gives the Medal of Freedom to Magic Johnson.

As reporters filed in for a ceremony, Bono greeted one and quipped, “It was really good. You didn’t miss anything.”

One recipient was listed among the honorees but did not appear: Lionel Messi, the soccer great. His name was not read among the honorees. It was a scheduling issue, according to what the White House pool reporter was told.

Another honoree, George Soros, also was not present, but his son, Alex Soros, accepted for him.

The elder Soros is a longtime Democratic megadonor — and frequent target of the right. He’s been falsely accused of orchestrating a liberal wish list, and he has been at the center of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Biden’s choice of Soros to receive the honor is not unusual, as the list of Medal of Freedom honorees often includes donors, campaign supporters and others whose politics align with the occupant of the White House. When Donald Trump was in office, he gave the Medal of Freedom to figures such as Rush Limbaugh and Miriam Adelson, the physician and philanthropist and wife of GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson.

Anna Wintour, another Biden honoree, has been a fundraiser and donor.

After she received her medal, Wintour stopped and shook the hand of another honoree, Ralph Lauren.

Other honorees included chef José Andrés, philanthropist Tim Gill and philanthropist David Rubenstein. Mitt Romney accepted for another posthumous honoree, his father George Romney; Stephanie Carter accepted for her late husband, former Defense Secretary Ash Carter; and Doris Hamer Richardson accepted for her late aunt, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.

Bono (@U2 @RED @ONECampaign) receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. pic.twitter.com/5GsCiJr65z
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 4, 2025

.@HillaryClinton receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. pic.twitter.com/wlKLaFEFry
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 4, 2025

Earvin “Magic” Johnson (@MagicJohnson) receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. pic.twitter.com/ctZkVmp8ks
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 4, 2025

Michael J. Fox (@realmikefox) receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. pic.twitter.com/HCdi8y9Jhp
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 4, 2025

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