President Donald Trump used his State of the Union (SOTU) address to honor service members and an Olympic athlete, presenting a series of military and civilian awards before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, and afterward, some Democratic lawmakers proved once more their level of disdain for our heroes is beyond contemptible.
During Tuesday night’s address, Trump announced and presented several high?profile honors spanning military service and civilian achievement.
The recipients included two military pilots, an Olympic athlete, a Coast Guard petty officer and two National Guard members.
In total, Trump issued six medals during the address, including the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Presidential Medal of Freedom and Legion of Merit.
Two Medals of Honor—the nation’s highest military decoration—were awarded to military pilots.
One went to retired Navy Captain Royce Williams, a 100?year?old veteran recognized for aerial combat during the Korean War.
The second was presented to Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, cited for his actions during a recent U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro during a January 2 raid.
After the speech, Illinois Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly, who is running for the Senate, joined Democratic Rep. Yvette Clark of New York and some of their gal pals for a podcast to rip the speech, of course, blast President Trump, brag about walking out, and dump on the award recipients.
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Kelly: “It was like an award show, you get a medal! You get a medal! You get a medal!”
REPREHENSIBLE!
Democrat Rep. Robin Kelly laughs at and MOCKS U.S. Veterans who received the Medal of Honor during President Trump's State of the Union Address:
“It was like an award show, you get a medal! You get a medal! You get a medal!” pic.twitter.com/IF5RTMmtPQ
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) February 25, 2026
Trump detailed how Williams earned his MoH:
“In the skies over Korea in 1952, Royce was in the dog fight of a lifetime—a legendary dog fight,” Trump said.
“Flying through blizzard conditions, his squadron was ambushed by seven Soviet fighter planes. It was his first aerial combat of the war. And despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the takedown of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others—vanquishing his adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt.”
The president said the mission remained classified for more than half a century, with Williams never even sharing the details with his wife.
“But the legend grew and grew,” Trump said.
“But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves. He was a legend long before this evening.”
He also detailed Slover’s heroism:
“Slover planned a mission and was the flight lead in the cockpit of the first helicopter,” Trump said.
“Eric steered the Chinook under the cover of night and descended swiftly upon Maduro’s heavily protected military fortress.”
Trump said the target area was defended by thousands of troops.
“While preparing to land, enemy machine guns fired from every angle, and Eric was hit very badly in the leg and hip—one bullet after another,” Trump said.
“He absorbed four agonizing shots, shredding his leg into numerous pieces.”
Finally, he awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Team USA Men’s Hockey Olympic hockey goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who batted away something like 42 of 43 Canadian team shots to help his squad win gold for the first time in 46 years.
Each one of these individuals exemplifies the American spirit, the goodness of our country, and the greatness of many who serve it – all of which was reduced to a sick punchline by a nobody Democratic congresswoman who hasn’t achieved one-tenth as much.
Just pathetic.
