President Joe Biden held the final Medal of Freedom ceremony of his presidency on Saturday, awarding the nation’s highest civilian honor to 19 people, including politicians, style icons and actors.
The group included former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, designer Ralph Lauren, and U2 frontman Bono.
In brief remarks, Biden said the honorees embody the nation’s creed (E Pluribus Unum, or “one among many”) and urged them to continue their important work.
Biden said that Clinton, who received a standing ovation, had championed democracy around the world and broken barriers to the presidential nomination.
Other honorees included philanthropist and liberal mega-donor George Soros and actor Michael J. Fox, who walked to center stage with the help of a military aide. The 6-foot-9 basketball star crouched down as Biden entrusted him with NBA legend Ervin “Magic” Johnson’s medal, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Biden also posthumously honored former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and former Michigan Republican Gov. George Romney, father of former Sen. Mitt Romney. Kerry Kennedy accepted the award on behalf of her father.
The White House said soccer superstar Lionel Messi did not attend the ceremony due to “scheduling conflicts.” CNN asked if Messi has already received this award or if he plans to receive it in the near future.
Republican criticism: Vice President-elect J.D. Vance appeared to criticize some of Biden’s final picks for the honor after Saturday’s ceremony.
“Looking forward to Biden (posthumously) awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pol Pot and Count Dracula,” Vance wrote in a post about X.
Conservatives have particularly highlighted prominent Republican critics, Clinton and Soros, who have slammed Biden’s list of winners. Some of the other award winners have criticized President-elect Donald Trump in the past.
This post has been updated with Vance’s comments regarding the recipients.
CNN’s Betsy Klein, Donald Judd and Andrew Millman contributed reporting to this post.