Award for Sexual Predators: Did President Obama Award the Medal of Freedom to Clinton, Weinstein, Weiner, Cosby?

A claim that United States President Barack Obama had awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to various men accused of unsavory or predatory behavior appeared in a October 2017 meme, after Hollywood director Harvey Weinstein was publicly accused of sexual assault by at least forty women who worked with his company.

It’s not clear precisely where the meme originated, but it shows Obama pinning the Medal of Freedom on former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the aforementioned Harvey Weinstein, disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner, and  comedian Bill Cosby:

Award for Sexual Predators


The text reads:

I didn’t know there was a sexual predator award..

Thanks Democrats

The photo of Obama and Clinton is real; President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Bill Clinton in 2013.

By contrast, the other three photos have been digitally manipulated — and not particularly well, for that matter — to make it appear that they were honored by Obama as well. A list of everyone awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor by Obama can be found at the archived version of Obama’s White House website. Neither Weinstein, Weiner, nor Cosby appear there, making this claim and meme pure disinformation.

Note, 1/23/2020, 11:06am: This page has been updated. You can view the original here. -bb