On Wednesday, President Obama responded to a question about Bill Cosby’s ongoing rape allegations, specifically as to whether the comedian’s Medal of Freedom award would be revoked.
“There is no precedent for revoking a medal. We don’t have that mechanism. And as you know I tend not to comment on the specifics of cases where there might still be, if not criminal, civil issues involved,” he said.
But after a brief pause, and without specifically naming Cosby, Obama issued a strong condemnation of the allegations.
“If you give a woman or a man without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent that’s rape. And I think this country and any civilized country should have no tolerance for rape.”
Last week, a judge unsealed documents from a 2005 legal deposition in which Cosby admitted to giving Quaaludes to a woman and then having sex with her.
