Legendary actor Jon Voight was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Donald Trump on Thursday at the East Room in the White House.
The award is considered “the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government,” the National Endowment for the Arts website outlines, given to “individuals or groups who ‘…are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.'”
During the ceremony, Trump called Voight, who is an ardent public supporter of the president, “a great friend” and “one of America’s greatest living legends,” according to Fox News.
“Everyone was crying at the end of the movie but I tried not to, John,” Trump said of the 1979 film “The Champ,” which he called “the greatest boxing movie of all time.”
As previously noted by The Daily Wire, the award-winning actor has “starred in major films from a wide range of genres, including ‘Catch-22’ (1970), ‘Deliverance’ (1972), ‘Heat’ (1995), ‘Mission Impossible’ (1996), ‘Transformers’ (2007) and ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ (2016). Voight was nominated for Academy Awards for best actor in a leading role for ‘Midnight Cowboy’ (1969) and ‘Runaway Train’ (1985) and best actor in a supporting role for ‘Ali’ (2001). In 1979, he won the Oscar for best actor in a leading role for ‘Coming Home’ (1978). He’s also won several Golden Globes, including two for his role as Mickey Donovan.”
“We love having you here, especially since it happens to be somebody that I really like,” Trump added.
The charismatic actor broke out in dance during the joyous ceremony, much to the pleasure of President Trump:
.@JonVoight bringing the dance moves at the National Medal of Arts ceremony. @realDonaldTrump digs it.
So good. pic.twitter.com/wAqLOJVsQ0
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 21, 2019
Before receiving the prestigious award, Voight ripped far-Left Hollywood culture during an interview with The Daily Mail.
‘There’s been an attack with propaganda that was inserted over the years, you know. A lot of it in the ’60s,” the 80-year-old actor told The Daily Mail. “And people don’t realize that they’ve been undermined. The Democratic Party’s been undermined, overtaken by Marxists, and, you know, and atheists.”
‘They took God out of their platform. Can you imagine that?” Voight added in reference to the 2012 Democratic National Convention where attendees booed the move to reinstate the word “God” into their platform, which was eventually added.
Of the National Endowment of the Arts, Voight said the group is made up of “just wonderful people” “who really understand the meaning that art [and] creativity can have in a life.”
In May, Voight, again, broke with Hollywood rank and posted a video to social media calling President Trump “the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.”
“This job is not easy, for [Trump’s] battling the left and their absurd words of destruction,” the actor said in the two-part video. “Our nation has been built on the solid ground from our forefathers, and there is a moral code of duty that has been passed on from President Lincoln.”
“Trump ‘has made his every move correct’ and that ‘our country is stronger, safer and with more jobs’ with him at the helm,'” Voight added.