The day after inciting a crowd, Trump tries his version of normalcy

The day after inciting a crowd, Trump tries his version of normalcy

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On Thursday, he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to golfers Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player, as well as a posthumous Medal of Freedom to Olympic athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias, a White House official told CNN.

Trump’s attempt to return to business as usual comes amid the ongoing global pandemic and after an impressive siege that he personally incited, leaving four dead and the Capitol building ransacked. In the aftermath, some Cabinet members had discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment amid concerns about what might happen before Trump stepped down, several officials are offering resignations, and there are ongoing issues about what went wrong and what will happen next. continue with the presidential transition.

In another demonstration of attempted nothing-to-see-here behavior, Trump called the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting, briefly addressing a friendly crowd of RNC members via speakerphone, without mentioning the events of Wednesday.

However, due to the fact that the RNC is currently an active crime scene after a bomb was found outside on Wednesday, Trump was forced to cancel his video program for Thursday night. It was to be recorded with the currently inaccessible RNC equipment.

And on Friday, Trump is due to head to the presidential retreat at Camp David, the White House official said, refusing to provide further details about the purpose of the trip.

The White House had previously announced on March 6 that Sorenstam and Player would receive the Freedom Medal on March 23, which was postponed because the coronavirus pandemic has spread across the country. The addition of the late Zaharias to the honoree list was new.
The player’s honor is notable because the golfer embraced apartheid in South Africa, although he later said he was wrong, telling GOLF magazine last June that he was ‘proud’ that his thinking had changed. “Their inclusion marks an unfavorable decision, since the president himself fostered racial unrest.

Trump, himself an avid golfer, had previously awarded Tiger Woods the Freedom Medal. The president spent 313 days during his tenure at a golf club.

With 13 days left of Trump’s presidency, the White House was inundated with requests for the Medal of Freedom, the country’s largest civilian tribute. Thursday’s presentation was not listed on Trump’s public schedule, which instead said that Trump would have “many meetings” and “many calls”.

Earlier this week, Trump awarded the Capitol’s ally, Rep. Devin Nunes, and is due to honor another member of Congress, Rep. Jim Jordan, before stepping down.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Jeremy Diamond and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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