Trump insults veterans again by saying civilian award he gave megadonor is ‘much better’ than Medal of Honor

Former president Donald Trump on Thursday continued his pattern of insulting the country’s most revered military veterans by claiming a top civilian award is more prestigious than the Medal of Honor awarded to service members for “conspicuous gallantry” in the face of enemy fire.

Trump was speaking to a group of Jewish Republicans at his New Jersey golf club after being introduced by Miriam Adelson, a wealthy GOP donor who is the billionaire widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The ex-president awarded Miriam Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, in 2018.

He recalled giving her the award during his time in the White House and described it as “the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor,” the military’s highest award bestowed on service members for extreme bravery during combat. The award is actually called the Medal of Honor, but it’s awarded “in the name of Congress” by the president.

Trump also claimed the Medal of Freedom is the “civilian version” of the military decoration — though it is not — and said the civilian award is “better” because “everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”

“She [Adelson] gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she got it for — and that’s through committees and everything else,” he added.

The Medal of Freedom was created in 1963 by then-president John F Kennedy to honor civilians who’ve made contributions to the “interests of the United States,” “world peace” or other cultural or “significant public or private endeavors.”

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