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.