U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Medal of Freedom to recipients during a ceremony in the East Room at the White House on Jan. 4, 2025. Photo courtesy of Cameron Smith/White House.
U.S. President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients on Saturday, Jan. 4, including far-left billionaire philanthropist George Soros and former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, also a former U.S. secretary of state.
The White House citation for the nation’s highest civilian honor noted Soros’s rise from surviving the Holocaust as a young Hungarian Jew to becoming one of the richest men in the world.
“Soros escaped Nazi occupation to build a life of freedom for himself and countless others around the world,” the citation read. “Educated in England, he settled in America as he became an investor and philanthropist, supporting key pillars of open societies: rights and justice, equity and equality, freedom now and in the future.”
Soros and his Open Society Foundations are among the most controversial political actors in the world, supporting wide-ranging left-wing political causes domestically, as well as pro-democracy and civil society efforts abroad.
Though he is not religious, Soros’s name has become synonymous with claims and counter-claims of Jew-hatred, with some alleging that accusations that movements he supports are “Soros-backed” are classic anti-Semitic tropes, while critics of Soros say that that is simply a straightforward description of how his foundation has distributed money and influence.
Soros, 94, has made fewer public appearances in recent years and in 2023 handed over control of Open Societies to his son, Alex, who accepted the Medal of Freedom on his father’s behalf on Saturday.
Republicans hammered U.S. President Joe Biden for his decision to award Soros the medal given his support for “reform-minded prosecutors” in cities like New York and San Francisco who critics allege has contributed to a rise in crime.
“Giving Soros the Medal of Freedom is outrageous but not surprising,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote. “Democratic politicians support criminals more than cops. They want violent criminals back on the streets.”
Open Society Foundations has also sent millions of dollars to American anti-Israel groups or to left-wing philanthropic umbrella organizations that contribute to those groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow.
David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group and owner of the Baltimore Orioles, and the fashion designer Ralph Lauren were the other two Jewish recipients of the Medal of Freedom on Saturday.
Biden also awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom to José Andrés, a chef and founder of the World Central Kitchen food-relief organization.
Andrés in April accused Israel of “fighting the basis of what humanity should be standing for” after Israel acknowledged that it had accidentally killed seven aid workers in an airstrike. Andrés alleged that the aid workers were “targeted systematically car by car.”
In December, World Central Kitchen fired 62 of its local staff members in the Gaza Strip—more than 10% of its workforce—after Israel said they had links to terrorist groups.
Other recipients of the Medal of Freedom on Saturday included Lakers legend Earvin (“Magic”) Johnson; actor and Parkinson’s disease advocate Michael J. Fox; Bono of the rock band U2; and Bill Nye, “the Science Guy.”
