Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Monday sharply criticized Donald Trump’s claim that the country’s highest civilian award is better than the Medal of Honor.
“No president, no member of Congress, no judge, no political official – and certainly no recipient of the Presidential Medal – is ever asked to give his life or his health to protect the Constitution. The two awards cannot be compared in any way. Not even close,” Kelly told CNN.
Last week, Trump reignited a long-simmering backlash over his criticism of some veterans by attempting to inflate the status of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He praised Republican major donor Miriam Adelson, to whom Trump gave the presidential honor in 2018. Trump likely heaped praise on Adelson to make up for an alleged private outburst that raised concerns about her involvement with a pro-Trump super PAC.
“It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but in a civilian version. It’s actually much better because everybody gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers, even if they’re in very bad shape because they’ve been hit by bullets so many times or they’re dead,” Trump said at a pro-Israel event attended by Adelson.
Leading veterans groups, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, have sharply attacked Trump for his comments. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign also added fuel to the fire. Over the weekend, Trump sought to clarify his comments while his critics continued to stoke the controversy.
“I didn’t hear that,” Trump told local WBRE-TV reporter Andy Mehalshick outside a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, when asked about the controversy surrounding his comments.
Trump said when he said the Presidential Medal of Freedom is “better,” he meant how the award is received. He added that recipients of the award, first created by President John F. Kennedy, “generally don’t have to suffer” to win the Medal of Freedom.
“I’ve just heard — when I say better, I mean I’d rather get it in some ways, because the people who get the Congressional Medal of Honor — which I’ve awarded to many of them — are often terribly troubled or dead,” Trump said. “They’re often dead. They get it posthumously. And when you get the Congressional Medal of Honor — I always consider that the ultimate — it’s a painful thing to get. When you get the Presidential Medal of Freedom, it’s usually for other things, like you’ve achieved great success in sports or you’ve achieved great success somewhere else. When you get the Medal of Honor — generally speaking, and I’ve met many of them and seen the families of many of them — it’s an incredible honor — but it was an acknowledgement that it’s much more painful to get it, because often they’re in very bad shape. I’ve seen them stand up and suffer a lot.”
A Trump campaign spokesperson referred Business Insider to the former president’s clarifying comments when asked to respond to Kelly’s statement.
Some of Trump’s claims about the Medal of Honor are still false.
Trump, like others before him, has mistakenly referred to the Medal of Honor as the “Congressional Medal of Honor,” but that is not the actual name of the nation’s highest military award. While Congress created the medal, as the Congressional Medal of Honor Society points out, it is “a purely military award.” Congressional approval is required to lift the award’s timelines if a potential recipient falls outside the designated window for consideration.
Trump’s argument that the medal is awarded posthumously is more nuanced. Overall, 18.5% of medals were awarded posthumously. But that changes when you consider only recent wars and conflicts. According to the society, of the eight medals related to the Iraq War, only two were awarded to living recipients. Trump awarded both medals.
Veterans have criticized the Pentagon in recent years for being too selective in awarding the highest honor. Often, the feats that commanders deem worthy of the Medal of Honor are downgraded to less prestigious awards after the review and investigation process. The medal’s current criteria reserve it for a soldier “who has distinguished himself by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty.” Only one woman in history, Dr. Mary E. Walker, has received the Medal of Honor.
Since leaving the White House, John Kelly has become one of Trump’s sharpest critics.
Kelly, a former member of Trump’s Cabinet, has been a vocal critic of the former president since leaving Trump’s White House in 2018. Kelly, a decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is a typical example of the top generals Trump turned to early in his presidency before later growing tired of their leadership. In previous statements, Kelly has made it abundantly clear that he does not support Trump’s run for office in 2024. In October 2023, Kelly told CNN that the former president has “contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.”
“That’s all we can say,” Kelly said in a statement to CNN. “God help us.”
The 2024 election will feature two veterans on both ballots, Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, something that hasn’t happened in years. Vance has criticized Walz for resigning from the Army National Guard.
