JD Vance defends Trump for saying a civilian award is 'much better' than the Medal of Honor

• Sen. JD Vance defended Donald Trump amid an outcry over his comments about the Medal of Honor.
• Trump said the nation's highest civilian award was "actually much better" than the Medal of Honor.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance on Friday defended former President Donald Trump's praise for a top GOP megadonor that included downplaying the importance of the Medal of Honor.

"I don't think him complementing and saying a nice word about a person who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those received military honors," Vance, a Ohio Republican, told reporters during a campaign stop in Milwaukee. "They are two different awards. And think, the president was saying some nice things about a person he liked and that is a totally reasonable thing to do."

Vance, who stressed that he had not seen the entirety of Trump's comments, added that the former president "loves our veterans."

Trump was praising Miriam Adelson, a major Republican donor and wife of the late Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, when inflated the importance of one of the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, over the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration.

"I have to say Miriam, I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom, that's the highest award you can get as a civilian," Trump said on Thursday evening during a pro-Israel event where Miriam Adelson was in attendance. "It's the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version — it's actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers, they are even in very bad shape because they have been hit so many times by bullets or they are dead."

Adelson, Trump added, was not injured when be bestowed the award on her in 2018.

"She gets it and she's a healthy, beautiful, woman," Trump said to some applause. "They are rated equal."

Trump was likely trying to make nice with Adelson after he reportedly bashed her in private. According to The New York Times, last month Trump had an aide on his behalf fire of a series of "angry text messages" about the advisors Adelson chose to run a pro-Trump super PAC.

Democrats' pointed out Trump's long history of criticizing veterans.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign and Democratic veterans slammed Trump, pointing to his long history of criticizing military service members, most notably claiming Vietnam veteran Sen. John McCain was not a war hero "because he was captured."

"Every Republican on the ballot must immediately and unequivocally condemn Donald Trump's disgusting remarks towards Medal of Honor recipients," VoteVets, an organization that supports Democratic veterans for public officer, said in a statement. "Failure to do so shows you share his absolute contempt for our Military and Veterans."

Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said Trump "knows nothing about service to anyone or anything but himself."

"For him to insult Medal of Honor recipients, just as he has previously attacked Gold Star families, mocked prisoners of war, and referred to those who lost their lives in service to our country as 'suckers' and 'losers,' should remind all Americans that we owe it to our service members, our country, and our future to make sure Donald Trump is never our nation's commander in chief again," Chitika said in a statement.

Trump and his campaign have repeatedly disputed a 2020 Atlantic story based on anonymous sources that said the then-president refused to visit a cemetery near Paris, where Americans killed during WWI are buried, because it was filled with "losers."

The report further said that during the trip, Trump called US Marines killed in action "suckers" for dying. Since the report's publication, some White House officials, including former chief of staff John Kelly, who is a veteran, have publicly corroborated The Atlantic's reporting.

November will be the first time in years that two veterans, Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who served in the Army National Guard, will be on both major parties' presidential tickets. Vance has attacked Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, over misrepresenting his service record.

What actually is the difference between the two awards?

President Kennedy first established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. Since then it has been awarded to actors, activists, athletes, performers, and other luminaries. It's actual equivalent is the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress. The gold medal even predates the Medal of Honor, dating back to the American Revolution when the Continental Congress bestowed the first award to Gen. George Washington. Congress first awarded it to veterans, but later expanded its reach.

The Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1894. A service member does not have to be killed in action or wounded to received the military's highest honor. There are less than 4,000 total Medal of Honor recipients. According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, only 60 of them are living.