Obama Won’t Revoke Bill Cosby Medal, But He Will Tell You What ‘Rape’ Means

On Wednesday afternoon, President Obama held a press conference in order to handle objections to the now-finalized Iran nuclear deal, and while almost everyone stayed on topic, AURN’s April Ryan continued to press the issue of Bill Cosby’s Medal of Freedom. Awarded to the comedy icon in 2002 by George W. Bush, the White House has thus far studiously avoided answering even the simple question of whether the President even could revoke the medal (he can, by executive order), let alone whether he would.

The revocation of the medal, however richly deserved, would potentially set a precedent whereby such honors could then become retroactive political footballs, so it’s no wonder the White House doesn’t want to set it. President Obama responded to Ryan’s question by, again, noting the absence of precedent and citing, as predicted, potential litigation as the reason not to comment on Cosby’s specific case, but he left open the question of whether such an action would be legal.

But the President, obviously cognizant of the concerns raised by recent coverage of the latest Cosby revelations, did make a potent statement about the ways in which rapes like the ones Cosby is accused of are talked about…READ MORE

By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.