'National disgrace,' 'disappointing': George Soros' presidential medal sparks controversy

George Soros received America's highest civilian honor Saturday. Attending the ceremony in the East Room of the White House on his behalf was his son Alex Soros, heir to the family empire. The announcement and the images of Soros receiving the distinction from the hands of Joe Biden did not take long to provoke the ire of Republicans and conservatives: "Disgrace," "shame" and "desperate act" were some of the first reactions.

,In presenting the medal, the administration highlighted his role as a philanthropist around the world. "His inspiring generosity," in the words of the event's emcee. And in Biden's to Soros: "All you’ve done to help this country." These very donations are the source of the controversy: over the years the investor gave millions of dollars to progressive causes, from the election of left-wing district attorneys, to the funding of pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses, to the questionable purchase of local media outlets across the country.

His main channel for donations, an organization called Open Society Foundations, the focus of several complaints and investigations, released words of thanks from its "deeply moved" founder and posted a video of the meeting between the president and Alex Soros:

Musk lashes out

One of the first to react against the distinction was Elon Musk: "A travesty that Biden is giving Soros the Medal of Freedom." He shared his statement on X with a video snippet in which he criticized Soros' meddling in American politics, asserting that the Hungarian had realized that he did not need to change the law, but its application.

A frequent critic of Soros, on another occasion Musk assured that the donor "hates humanity." This weekend he lashed out at the investor again, posting an image comparing him to "Star Wars" villain Darth Sidious.

'National disgrace'

Donald Trump Jr. added to the rebukes, sharing a video of a pizza delivery boy who reportedly rescued children from a burning house with the message, "This guy deserves the presidential medal of freedom… Not the clowns like Soros and the others who got it from Biden this week."

"George Soros spent millions electing soft-on-crime politicians that let criminals wreak havoc in our major cities," Montana Senator Tim Sheehy told The New York Post. The decision to award both him and Hillary Clinton, another of Saturday's honorees, the decoration, he added, is a "national disgrace."

Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton opted for the word "disappointing." In addition to accusing Soros of generating an increase in crimes through his financial support for leftist reforms of the judicial system, he claimed that he could think of no American city that was safer because of his funds.

"Fortunately," he said, "their Defund the Police efforts and other initiatives have failed and many American cities have voted them out of office in favor of more traditional public safety initiatives."

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance joked about Biden's full list of honorees, writing, "Looking forward to Biden giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumously) to Pol Pot and Count Dracula." He thus referenced, without specifying to whom, other recipients who caused controversy as the aforementioned Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and Trump's rival in the 2016 election, or the billionaire donor to LGBT causes Tim Gill.

Also honored were, among others, U2 musician and activist Bono, chef José Andrés, founder of the charity World Central Kitchen, actor Michael J. Fox, fashion designer Ralph Lauren and, posthumously, Attorney General Robert Francis Kennedy.