President Trump touted himself for the Nobel Peace Prize after his one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which ultimately resulted in no new nuclear disarmament agreements or actions. So his opponents wasted no time breathing a sigh of relief after the prize was announced this week: Trump was snubbed, while campaigners against sexual violence were recognized.
Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad were acclaimed by the Nobel committee “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.” Murad has become a spokeswoman for Yazidi women abused by ISIS. Mukwege, a physician, has treated thousands of patients who have been raped or sexually abused amid the Congo’s civil war.
Republican lawmakers had nominated Trump for the prize “in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula, and bring peace to the region.”
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) had said Trump deserved the award for the administration’s advances against ISIS and aggressive stance toward Iran. “If Donald Trump gets the Nobel Peace Prize, liberals all over the world would jump out of buildings,” Graham laughed.
But liberals and other non-fans of Trump remained seated this week, taking to Twitter to express their gratitude for the committee’s decision.
Worth noting that a few months back Trump kinda sorta thought he might win the Nobel Peace Prize. It went to anti-rape activists.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 5, 2018
Poetic justice: Warriors in the battle to eradicate sexual violence beat sexual violence promoter (Kavanaugh, Roy Moore, etc) and habitual misogynist @realDonaldTrump to win the @NobelPrize
@Morning_Joe https://t.co/1Wu3cTevTf
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) October 5, 2018
I hope Trump can get in some golf this weekend, he deserves a break after a hard week spent not winning the Nobel Peace Prize, blithering like an idiot about imaginary Soros conspiracies, and wandering around with toilet paper stuck to his shoe like some demented old grandpa
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) October 5, 2018
At age 23, Murad was named the U.N.’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. In December 2015, Murad told the U.N. Security Council how she and thousands of Yazidi women and girls were abducted, imprisoned and raped after the Iraqi city of Sinjar was overtaken by Islamic State militants in 2014. She escaped after three months in captivity.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee called Denis Mukwege “the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts.
“The importance of Dr. Mukwege’s enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field cannot be overstated. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticized the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war,” the committee said in its citation.
