WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that there was no precedent for revoking the U.S. Medal of Freedom — as some have called for him to do — given to comedian and actor Bill Cosby. But the President did outline his definition of rape.
“There’s no precedent for revoking a medal. We don’t have that mechanism,” he said.
The President then paused, and while he would not comment on the specifics of a case in which criminal or civil charges could be brought, he instead offered a definition of rape.
“If you give a woman — or a man, for that matter — without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that’s rape,” Obama said Wednesday at a White House press conference.
Earlier this month, details of a 2005 lawsuit were revealed that showed that Cosby admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with.
Shortly thereafter, online petitions began to have Obama revoke the medal.
The Cosby question came from April Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks.
Most of Wednesday’s press conference centered on the recently-negotiated deal over Iran’s nuclear program, which will soon be under review from Congress.
