The Nobel committee has issued a pointed statement in the wake of Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gifting hers to US President Donald Trump. The president was pictured posing for a photo in the Oval Office, smiling as he held the prize and stood next to Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition party. Machado told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday afternoon that she had given Trump her medal, which she won last year due to her commitment to turning Venezuela into a democracy. However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee posted a lengthy tweet on Thursday that its prizes ‘cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others’ ‘A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.’ They repeated the official ruling they published last week: ‘But one truth remains. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee states: Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.’
Machado didn’t listen, recalling to reporters how a medal commissioned for President George Washington was presented to the family of French military officer Marquis de Lafayette, who had helped the Americans win the Revolution. ‘I presented the president of the United States, the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,’ she said. Trump thanked Machado on Truth Social: ‘It was my Great Honor to meet Mara Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. Mara presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you Mara!’ Machado said she bestowed the medal on Trump, calling him the ‘heir of Washington’, because the president had made a ‘unique commitment with our freedom’. The post ‘A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.’ Nobel committee issues a statement after Venezuela’s opposition leader gifts Peace Prize to Trump appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.
