Miriam Adelson — the doctor, philanthropist, political donor to conservative causes and wife of GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson — will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside six others including the late baseball legend Babe Ruth and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the White House announced Saturday.
Miriam and Sheldon Adelson together gave more than $100 million to Republican candidates and organizations during the 2016 election cycle and tens of millions more during the 2018 cycle, leading to a conflict-of-interest-ridden relationship with GOP establishment, including accusations that President Donald Trump advocated on behalf of the Adelsons’ casino interests.
Concerns about appearances didn’t seem to matter when it came to selecting Medal of Freedom recipients.
Alongside Miriam Aldeson, President Donald Trump on Saturday named as Medal of Freedom recipients Ruth, Hatch, former football player and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, former football player Roger Staubach, Elvis Presley and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Miriam and Sheldon were both finance vice chairs on the president’s inaugural committee, which smashed previous records by bringing in $107 million.
