Trump awards Jon Voight, others National Medal of Arts

President Trump awarded the National Medal of Arts to Jon Voight, an Oscar-winning actor and outspoken supporter of the president, along with several others during a ceremony at the White House on Thursday.

Also among those honored were country-bluegrass musician Alison Krauss, philanthropist Sharon Percy Rockefeller and the musicians of the U.S. military. The event marked the first time Trump has awarded the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal since he took office in January 2017.

“Each of today’s recipients has made outstanding contributions to American society, culture and life. they exemplify the genius, talent and creativity of our exceptional nation,” Trump said in remarks from the East Room of the White House, where he was joined by first lady Melania Trump and several members of his Cabinet.

Trump on Thursday also awarded the National Humanities Medal to author James Patterson; the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank; University of Texas educator Teresa Lozano Long; and chef Patrick O’Connell, founder of local restaurant The Inn at Little Washington.

Trump singled out each of the recipients for their achievements, beginning his remarks describing Voight as an “actor and friend” and “one of America’s greatest living legends in cinema.”

Trump cheered Voight’s performances in movies like “Midnight Cowboy,” “Mission Impossible,” and “The Champ” – which he called one of the best boxing movies in history.

“Everyone was crying at that movie. I tried not to, Jon. It wasn’t easy,” Trump said. “We love having you here, especially because it’s someone that I happen to really like.”

Voight is one of a handful of vocal supporters of Trump in Hollywood, releasing a video message earlier this year describing Trump as “the greatest president of this century.”

Trump described Patterson as “another friend” and joked about his book sales being among the highest of all time.

“You’ve sold a lot more books than me,” Trump said. “The Bible has you by a little bit.”

Before Trump made remarks about Krauss, bluegrass music began playing in the East Room. The president thanked Krauss, who has received 27 Grammy awards throughout her career, “for sharing your wonderful gift with the world.”

Trump also noted the size and reach of the musicians of the U.S. military honored on Thursday, saying it the honorees including 6,656 members who form 136 bands across the world.

Trump noted the bands play more than 35,000 times each year, including in war zones, at military funerals and other places.

“They’re not just magnificent performers,” Trump said. “They’re also courageous warriors.”

Vice President Pence, Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley were among those present for the ceremony Thursday afternoon.

Trump recognized each of them at the outset of his remarks, in particular praising Milley for his role in organizing the U.S. military raid that led to the death of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last month.

Ok, well since you asked for personal Jon Voight stories:

Several years ago, as I was just getting into filmmaking, I had taken a screenwriting tutorial from a total leftist at Wright State U. (course, they all are). Anyway, his final “test” for me was a 15-page screenplay.

So I wrote one, a parody on college hiring, called “The Search Committee.” It was about a midwestern college search committee who are so snobbish they adore anything Ivy League. In their search for a new history prof, they meet and reject applicant after applicant (”too white,” “too old,” “from University of Colorado-—are you kidding?”) Finally they see one from Princeton, and they have orgasms. A PRINCETON prof wants to come to their little school.

In fact the application was from two male Princeton students who, as part of a class assignment, decided to prank a school where one of the boy’s dads worked-—except in this case, the dad was on the search committee!

Now the search committee REALLY wants to hire Prof. Collins (but there is no professor Collins) and the boys are stuck. The committee wants a Skype interview, which the boys do-—one of them dressed up with wig, sunglasses, etc and they “fuzz” the reception so the committee can’t really see him. Moreover, “professor” Collins gives total gibberish answers about dialectical materialistic paradigns that involve the Marxist/socialist invective . . . .” The committee is WOWed!

The rest of the script is the committee flying to Princeton to actually meed the “professor” and the boys trying to keep from meeting them. I thought it was pretty funny, but what did I know?

Fast forward to about 2013. A friend, also with a script, said he and Jon Voight were working on a screenplay about a college and would I, being a professor, meet with them to talk to them about some college details for reality? Sure. Who wouldn’t?

I met Jon at a restaurant in Burbank. After he explained the script to me, I said, “Mr. Voight, I’m really not shopping a script. But it just so happens that my first and only script is about a college-—the Search Committee”-—and I handed him a copy. I thought he’d take it home. He opened it up and started reading, right there! Now, here I am, my first script ever, and an Academy Award Winning Actor is reading my script-—and he’s laughing at all the right places. “Oh, this is a gem,” he said. “You’re a gem.” He gave it to his partner to use in revising their own script. And that was it.

About two months later, I met him again at a large Friends of Abe BBQ and he hugged me. I haven’t seen him since.

Jon Voight— good guy who’s also Angelina Jolie’s dad.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall during some of their political discussions.

Side note, great to hear Alison Krauss is also a Medal of Arts winner, and that she refrained from any anti-Trump grandstanding.

I’m a longtime fan.

https://youtu.be/nBwbjyVW_jI

https://youtu.be/HR_8EgQj3tg

https://youtu.be/_CJfxaWRkNs

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