If the White House petition urging President Obama to revoke Bill Cosby’s Presidential Medal of Freedom gets 100,000 signatures by August 7, the Obama administration will have to comment on the issue.
As you’re surely well aware, dozens of women have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. Court documents from a 2005 proceeding, during which Cosby admitted to giving Quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with, were recently leaked to the Associated Press.
Shortly thereafter, the petition surfaced on WhiteHouse.gov, requesting that the Obama administration revoke the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Cosby in 2002.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest award bestowed on civilians for their contributions to society. Bill Cosby does not deserve to be on the list of distinguished recipients.
PAVE: Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment, a national nonprofit dedicated to sexual assault prevention and victim empowerment, is rallying supporters to remedy this injustice.
Cosby admitted to procuring drugs to have sex with women without their consent. He has been accused of serial rape by dozens of others.
We cannot yet give his accusers their day in court, but we can fight back in the court of public opinion.
We urge the administration to take the unprecedented action of revoking this award.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest briefly addressed the issue on Wednesday when he told the press pool that he wasn’t sure if President Obama could legally rescind the medal.
As of 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 11, the petition had garnered more than 5,000 signatures, which means fewer than 95,000 additional people will need to sign it to elicit a White House response.