Republicans have taken their adulation for President Donald Trump to new heights, presenting him with the inaugural America First award at the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) dinner on Wednesday night.
House Speaker Mike Johnson presented the award he said would now be given “annually from this point forward," referring to Trump as "suitable and fitting recipient" of the prize.
He said:
"The president has done so much for the American people and we want to honor him in some small way, some token of our appreciation for his leadership. Tonight, we have created a new award. We are going to do something we've never done before."
"We are going to honor him with a new award that we will present annually from this point forward. But he is the suitable and fitting recipient of the first-ever America First award. We could think of no better title for what that is."
"That is this beautiful golden statue here, appropriate for the golden era in America."
You can hear what Johnson said in the video below.
This is at least the second award Trump has received in the last month.
In February, he was given an award for being the "undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal." Trump's recognition reportedly came from the Washington Coal Club, a pro-coal advocacy organization with financial links to the sector. The award was presented by James Grech, chief executive of Peabody Energy, the nation’s largest coal producer.
The ceremony coincided with Trump signing an executive order instructing the Department of Defense to enter long-term power agreements with coal plants supplying military bases and other facilities deemed essential to national security.
In December, he was presented with FIFA's inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize,” a gold medal and oversized trophy that, notably, arrived just months after he failed to secure a Nobel Peace Prize—and just after the U.S. Justice Department suddenly announced that it was dropping an international soccer bribery case.
The following month, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado faced heavy criticism after she gave her prize to Trump despite the Nobel Committee's insistence that prizes can't be transferred. Machado ignored the pushback and went to Washington anyway, saying she had done so "as a recognition for his [Trump's] unique commitment with our freedom."
These "recognitions" are as tone-deaf as you could possibly get considering the nation is in the throes of an affordability crisis, Trump is at the center of the Epstein files scandal, and his administration recently launched a war with Iran that has caused a surge in gas prices.
Meanwhile, his immigration crackdown continues and ICE has now been deployed to certain airports around the country to "help" TSA workers, who have gone unpaid since mid-February, when a partial government shutdown began.
The timing could not be worse—and the second-hand embarrassment over the GOP's fawning was something else.
Trump was presented the America First award after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and FBI Director Kash Patel made headlines for fawning over him during a roundtable in Memphis.
Miller claimed "what President Trump is doing on border security and public safety is a national miracle that will be studied not only for generations but for centuries to come."
Patel credited Trump with efforts to crack down on crime, saying Trump is "inspiring the nation and law enforcement to come up and wear the badge and wear the colors of this country and safeguard our men and women for generations to come." He gave Trump his "thanks for delivering America the safest, safest, safest country on God's green earth."
Oh, brother.
@WhiteHouse/X