“First of all, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is an extraordinarily sacred award. We’re talking about putting someone on the same level as Rosa Parks, for example, in terms of their contributions to American progress,” Ocasio-Cortez, 30, said on Instagram. “Rush Limbaugh is a violent racist.”
While he was on the air on Monday, the popular and provocative radio personality announced he’d been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. The next night, he was a guest of honor at the State of the Union and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom — a moment that left him visibly moved.
First Lady Melania Trump places the Presidential Medal of Freedom on radio host Rush Limbaugh.MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images
“Rush Limbaugh, thank you for your decades of tireless devotion to our country,” President Trump continued. “And Rush, in recognition of all that you have done for our nation, the millions of people a day that you speak to and that you inspire and all of the incredible work that you have done for charity, I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country’s highest civilian honor: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Ocasio-Cortez and many other liberal voices across the country pointed to Limbaugh’s past statements and political beliefs in taking issue with honoring him, however. He helped perpetuate the racist claim that PresidentBarack Obamawasn’t born in the United States and once called a Georgetown student a “slut” and a “prostitute” for advocating for birth control.
“There’s all sorts of norms that are being violated, not just for people’s humanity but also it just truly cheapens the value of it,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram. “Also, him just pretending to be surprised was such a joke.”
On Twitter, director Rob Reiner also shared his displeasure with Limbaugh receiving the award. “Only one thing to say about Rush Limbaugh getting a Presidential Medal if Freedom at The State of the Union: I loathe this [f—ing] man,” hewrote.
Ethan Miller/Getty; Anna Moneymaker/Getty
“It’s red meat to his base. Trump knows what he’s doing,” Ocasio-Cortez said on social media. “He wants to assert that Rush Limbaugh is somehow on the same level as Rosa Parks and it’s truly nauseating and this is one of the many reasons why I did not go.”
In response, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabeesaid Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t being respectfulof Limbaugh’s contributions to conservative media.
“For her to complain about a person with stage 4 cancer who for longer than she has been alive has actually saved AM radio in this country and has been responsible for creating an extraordinary voice for people who are conservative,” Huckabee said on Fox News.
Ocasio-Cortez was one of a handful of Democratic lawmakers who either refused to attend Trump’s State of the Union address of walked out while he was speaking.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi grabbed many headlines of her own when she ripped up her copy of the president’s speech just as he finished delivering his remarks.
Afterwards, Pelosi told reporters: “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”
source: people.com
