President Donald Trump announced Friday that former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among the country’s highest civilian awards.
The announcement came nine days after the coach delivered a speech in support of the president at the Republican National Convention, claiming Democratic nominee Joe Biden to be a “Catholic in name only despite significant evidence of the former vice president’s faith.
The speech was controversial enough that the president of Notre Dame released a statement a day later distancing the school from Holtz and chastising its former coach for questioning another person’s faith.