Remarks by President Trump at the Presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Lou Holtz | Eastern North Carolina Now

    MR. HOLTZ: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm humbled by the various comments and the opportunity to receive this award.

    But I want to assure you how proud I am not only to receive the award; I'm even prouder to receive it from President Donald Trump, who I think was the greatest President during my lifetime. And the things you've done for this country have given people the opportunity. (Applause.)

    As far as making money - I do have to correct one thing, Mr. President. You talk about making money. When I went to Notre Dame, they had a policy: The head football coach was not allowed to make more than the president of Notre Dame. The president of Notre Dame was a priest who took a vow of poverty. (Laughter.) I made 95,000 (inaudible).

    I get this award; I accept it humbly. And you don't go in life saying "I want to win this award." You just wake up one day and it happens. But this award, as great as it is, does not define who Lou Holtz is.

    My beautiful family, my precious wife, my friends: You have determined who I am, and I just try to be a solid person. As I think it was said, the two most important days of your life was the day you were born; the other is the day you discover why you're born. When we discover we're born basically (inaudible) other people and overcome problems and difficulties that are going to come our way. And I just cannot be prouder to be a part of this country. I could not be prouder to receive this award from an individual I respect and admire as much as President Trump.

    Thank you, sir.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. So nice. Thank you. (Applause.)

    MILITARY AIDE: Attention to orders. Louis L. Holtz, an American sports legend, is awarded the Medal of Freedom. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Coach Holtz's achievements include 249 wins, 12 bowl game victories, and a national championship. He is the only football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games. His tenure at Notre Dame was historic, securing 10 straight winning seasons and the 1988 National Championship.

    Off the field, he's a staple of sports television, a powerful motivational speaker, a devout Catholic, and a dedicated philanthropist. The United States proudly honors Louis L. Holtz for his contributions to our nation.

    Signed, Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States of America.

    (The Medal of Freedom is presented.)

    THE PRESIDENT: Beautiful. (Applause.)

    MR. HOLTZ: Thank you. Whoa. Okay, that's it. (Laughter.)

    Q Mr. Holtz, congratulations. How are you feeling?

    MR. HOLTZ: I feel so indebted to so many people in my life that had such a positive influence on it. For a guy that graduated in the lower third of his high school class, I feel fortunate to be able to be here but also to be part of this great country and to be next to an individual that I respect as much as him.


    So I say it: You've honored a lot of people. You go look at all the people - in Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus - they're recognized for what they did. I'm recognized for what other people did. I never made a block or a tackle, but I did try to teach people to make good choices. That's all I've ever tried to do. But thank you.

    THE PRESIDENT: Such a great statement. Thank you, Lou.

    Q Mr. President, Mitch McConnell says COVID relief may be in sight. Will you support this bill? Do you support -

    THE PRESIDENT: I will. And I think -

    Q - the 900-billion-dollar -

    THE PRESIDENT: - we're getting very close. And I want it to happen, and I believe that they're getting very close to a deal. Yeah.

    Q And you'll support it? You'll sign it?

    THE PRESIDENT: I will. I will. Absolutely. Yeah.

    Q Okay. And, Mr. President, can I ask you to respond to the comments by your Attorney General who indicated he has not seen, at this point, any evidence of fraud enough to overturn the election results? Given that, why is now not the time to concede?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, he hasn't done anything. So he hasn't looked. When he looks, he'll see the kind of evidence that right now you're seeing in the Georgia Senate. You know, they're going through hearings right now in Georgia, and they're finding tremendous volume. So they haven't looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you, because it's massive fraud.

    Whether you go to Wisconsin, where we just filed a case, or Michigan, or if you look at what's happening in Georgia, as an example, or Pennsylvania; if you look at Nevada, which is moving along very rapidly, or Arizona - you saw those numbers come out yesterday - we found massive fraud. And in other states also. This is a - probably the most fraudulent election that anyone has ever seen.

    Q Do you still have confidence in Bill Barr?

    THE PRESIDENT: Uh, ask me that in a number of weeks from now. They should be looking at all of this fraud. This is not civil; he thought it was civil. This is not civil; this is criminal stuff. This is very bad criminal stuff.

    So I just say this: We went through an election. At 10 o'clock, everybody said, "That was an easy victory for Trump." All of a sudden, the votes started disappearing - miraculously disappearing. We found much of it, but we found far more votes than we need in almost all of these states. And I think I can say in all of these states, far more votes than we need to win every one of them.


    And I want to just thank my team because my team is doing an unbelievable job. And more importantly, I want to thank the 74 million-plus people that voted, which, Lou, is the largest amount of people that a sitting President has ever had - 74 million-plus. And because the level of - of loyalty, I've never seen anything like it. All over the country, they know it was a fixed election. It was a rigged election. They know it, and I appreciate their support.

    Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

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