President Donald Trump thinks Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) - the chair of the House Intelligence Committee - should be awarded the Medal of Honor for his work trying to thwart the Russia investigation.
Trump made his remarks on Thursday during an appearance on Fox & Friends, his favorite cable news show.
"If this turns out as everyone thinks it will," Trump said of the probe, "Devin Nunes should get the Medal of Honor." The award is normally reserved for members of the armed forces who displayed exemplary service.
Later in the broadcast, Trump suggested that Nunes could receive the Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor.
"Maybe we'll call it the Medal of Freedom because we actually give them, the high awards for civilians," Trump said. This, of course, was not Trump's original idea. In August, Fox News host Sean Hannity said Nunes "frankly deserves the Medal of Freedom for really showing, sadly, the biggest abuse of power corruption scandal."
Nunes has never served in the military.
Trump's comments did not go over well with a certain Senator who happens to be an Iraq War veteran.
Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) blasted the president for insulting "real Medal of Honor recipients" with "fake hyperbolic rantings."
In a subsequent tweet, Duckworth introduced Trump to "Mike Novosel, a real MOH recipient who I was honored to call my friend."
Novosel was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve and chief warrant officer in the Army who served during World War II, the Korean War, and in Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1971 by President Richard Nixon.
"He lies at rest in ARLINGTON’s sacred grounds," Duckworth wrote. "His headstone reads simply “A good Soldier.”"
Exasperated Twitter followers rallied behind Duckworth and her takedown of the president.
Duckworth lost both her legs in combat and in April of 2018. Nunes, on the other hand, has been one of Trump's strongest allies in the Russia investigation headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Nunes is viewed by many as having strangled the investigation through requests for top-secret documents relating to the ongoing probe, as well as ending the House Intelligence Committee's own investigation without having interviewed key witnesses.
Social media scoffed at Trump's idea, and rightly so.
At least we got some good memes out of it.
File this under things that will never happen.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC