Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado had a simple explanation for why she gifted President Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal at the White House Thursday.
“Because he deserves it,” Machado told “Fox & Friends” during an interview that aired Friday morning. “And, um, it was a very emotional moment.”
Machado, 58, added that she had presented Trump, 79, with the medal in a frame “on behalf of the people of Venezuela” following the Jan. 3 arrest of socialist authoritarian president Nicolas Maduro on federal drug and weapons charges in a daring special forces raid on Caracas.
The commander-in-chief hosted Machado at the White House for a private lunch Thursday, with the Venezuelan opposition leader spending about two and half hours at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Machado was awarded the Peace Prize this past October in recognition of her efforts to promote democracy in her home country.
Trump has publicly expressed doubt over whether Machado has the ability to lead Venezuela after the capture of Maduro, and has backed interim president Delcy Rodríguez — Maduro’s former underling — to run the country until elections can be held at a future date.
