Biden to award gun control activist Gabby Giffords, Trump critic Khizr Khan with Medal of Freedom

President Biden announced Friday he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom next week to 17 individuals including ex-lawmaker and gun control activist Gabby Giffords, the late Sen. John McCain, Trump critic Khizr Khan, Olympic athlete Simone Biles and Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington. 

Ms. Giffords, a former House lawmaker from Arizona, founded a gun-violence prevention group after surviving an assassination attempt in 2011. 

Mr. Khan is the Gold Star father who famously criticized then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016 at the Democratic National Convention, in a speech lambasting Mr. Trump’s comments about Muslim Americans. In response, Mr. Trump attacked the Khan family, drawing criticism from some supporters and other Republicans, including Mr. McCain.

Among the other recipients are the late Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple; Sister Simone Campbell, a Catholic nun who advocates for economic justice; Sandra Lindsay, the first American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials, U.S. women’s soccer legend Megan Rapinoe. former Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, who advocated for campaign finance reform.