President Donald Trump has a new award to add to his collection, the “Man of the Century Award,” presented to him at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, by Republican congressional candidate Joe Mitchell, who created the honor himself.
Mitchell, 29, is running in a competitive race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District against Democrat Lindsay James. With Trump in town, the former state representative joined the president on stage and used the moment to deliver some lavish praise.
“I wanted to say, Mr. President, for the last 10 years, you kept this country more safe than any other president, ever,” Mitchell told Trump, before bringing up another subject the president has repeatedly complained about: the Nobel Peace Prize.
“And they’ve never given you the Nobel Peace Prize, by the way, which is a disgrace,” Mitchell said.
Then came the solution.
Holding up a framed certificate, Mitchell announced that he had created a new honor specifically for Trump.
“So, what I came up with, Mr. President, is the new award. It’s called the ‘Man of the Century Award,’” he said.
Yes, he came up with it himself.
Mitchell held up the certificate and even called on CNN to zoom in so the network could get a good look at the newly minted honor.
He then declared that Trump had done more for humanity and America than any other president.
Trump accepted the certificate and shook Mitchell’s hand.
The presentation came just one day after Trump used a rally in Greenville, South Carolina, to complain again about not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump has repeatedly argued that he deserves the honor because of his claimed role in resolving international conflicts.
During the South Carolina event, he recalled last year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who presented her award to Trump in a separate gesture after the U.S. military operation that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power and brought him to New York to face criminal charges, according to the report.
Trump praised Machado and recalled her saying that he deserved the prize more than anyone else because he had settled multiple wars.
But his comments about this year’s winner were considerably less complimentary.
Trump criticized South African human rights attorney and International Criminal Court judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, accusing her of hating Israel.
The remarks appeared to refer to Pillay’s leadership of a United Nations panel that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Trump also complained that he had not received the Pulitzer Prize, an award reserved for journalists.
At another point, he appeared to confuse the Nobel Peace Prize with the Pulitzer Prize while discussing the winner, referring to an approximately 80-year-old woman. Trump himself is 80.
Mitchell’s homemade certificate adds to a growing list of honors Trump has received from supporters and allies.
Last December, FIFA president Gianni Infantino presented Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, an award introduced by the international soccer governing body.
The presentation followed Trump’s repeated complaints about being overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize.
