Calls Intensify for Trump to Award Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kyrie Irving for Refusing COVID Vaccine
Recent scrutiny of former COVID advisor Anthony Fauci has brought fresh attention to NBA star Kyrie Irving’s decision to decline the COVID-19 vaccine, with supporters arguing it warrants the nation’s highest civilian recognition.
Following a Senate hearing last week in which Fauci declined to testify by invoking Fifth Amendment protections more than 100 times, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith stated that Irving is owed an apology. Smith, who previously labeled Irving’s stance as selfish, said on his SiriusXM program that watching the hearing made him think of the player. In hindsight, Smith explained, Irving’s refusal was not stubbornness but an act of courage.
During the 2021-22 season, Irving ranked among the NBA’s top players while with the Brooklyn Nets. New York City vaccine requirements imposed under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo barred him from home games after he declined the shot. President Joe Biden at the time characterized the situation as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Irving maintained his position, which supporters say encouraged others facing job and social pressures over the mandates. The choice limited his playing time and isolated him within the league.
The comments prompted reactions from public figures. Rapper Nicki Minaj responded to Smith’s remarks with a pointed question about whether he had finally shown resolve. Vernon Jones, a former Democrat now campaigning for Georgia secretary of state, called for New York City, the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA, the players’ association, and Fauci to repay Irving the roughly $11 million in earnings he lost that season—about $380,000 per missed home game.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), an ally of President Donald Trump, went further, urging the president to bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Irving for what she described as an immense act of bravery during a difficult period in recent history.
The discussion coincides with the release by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) of more than 1,100 pages from a diary kept by Fauci. The entries highlight discrepancies between Fauci’s public statements and private views on the vaccines’ limited ability to stop infection and transmission, along with a June 2021 personal health episode involving a lung blood clot that occurred months after he received the Moderna shot.
