The former Obama administration staffers who host Pod Save America said that while President Joe Biden found plenty of candidates worthy of the Medal of Freedom, their former boss wasn’t on the list.
The hosts joked that Biden and former President Barack Obama aren’t on speaking terms, and their most recent rift might have affected Biden’s decision not to “return the favor” of bestowing the highest civilian award on the former president.
“Obama gave one to Biden, and Biden did not return the favor,” co-host Jon Favreau said.
“That’s interesting,” co-host Jon Lovett replied.
“Yeah, well,” Favreau said while laughing. “I guess they’re not really on speaking terms, I suppose, after all that’s happened!”
Obama granted Biden the Medal of Freedom — the country’s highest civilian honor — in January. In his speech, Obama said, “To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense, service without self-regard, and to live life fully.”
Memes circulated online that Obama and Biden shared the ultimate “bromance” after Biden posted a photo on National Best Friends Day of their friendship bracelets in 2019.
However, they haven’t always seen eye to eye. Obama and his inner circle discouraged Biden from running for president in 2016, opting to prop up then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instead. Clinton won the Democratic nomination but went on to lose to President-elect Donald Trump in the general election.
Following Biden’s disastrous presidential debate performance in June, Obama aides said the former president was calling on Biden to drop out of the race behind closed doors.
When Biden made the decision to drop out of the presidential race, Obama released a statement in which he called Biden’s decision to drop out a “testament to Joe Biden’s love of country.”
“For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life,” Obama said in a statement. “But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. ”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Obama campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost this past election to Trump.
Biden awarded the Freedom of Medal to 17 individuals, including Michael J. Fox, Bill Nye, Jose Andres, Denzel Washington, Clinton, and George Soros.
