Biden awards Medal of Freedom to 19 people including Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore and Michelle Yeoh

President Biden on Friday hailed the accomplishments of what he described as “an incredible group of people” as he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients at a White House ceremony in the East Room, including former vice president Al Gore, ex-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.

Mr Biden congratulated the recipients for their “relentlessness and curiosity” after describing each of them and their accomplishments.

“Nineteen incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity, and hope have kept faith in a better tomorrow,” he said.

The award is America’s highest civilian honour and is awarded solely at the discretion of the President of the United States.

The White House says that the medal is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors”.

Mr Biden previously bestowed the medal on 17 others in a ceremony held in 2022, including gymnast Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington, and former Arizona congresswoman turned gun safety advocate Gabrielle Giffords.

This time around, Mr Gore, Mr Bloomberg and Ms Yeoh were joined by 17 other new recipients, including several current or former members of Congress.

Mr Biden honoured his presidential climate envoy, former Secretary of State and ex-Massachusetts Senator John Kerry as well as House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, South Carolina Representative James Clyburn, former North Carolina senator and transportation secretary Elizabeth Dole, and the late New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Of Mr Clyburn, the president acknowledged the South Carolinian’s