President Obama, while addressing demands for revoking Bill Cosby's Presidential Medal after allegations of Cosby having drugged women to have sex with them surfaced, said at a news conference: "There's no precedent for revoking the medal. We don't have that mechanism," reported ABC News.
"If you give a woman or a man for that matter without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape. I think this country, any civilized country should have no tolerance for rape," said the president. POTUS would not comment on the specifics of ongoing criminal or civil cases.
Over the past week, it has emerged that the comedian testified in 2005 that he obtained the sedative Quaalude with the intent of giving the drug to women with whom he wanted to have sex, and he acknowledged giving it to at least one woman.
The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting at least one current criminal investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Cosby according to NPR. Some of the allegations against Cosby are decades old and, as such, fall outside the statute of limitations.
The scandal has had negative effects on Cosby - NBC canceled a project with him, as did Netflix. The U.S. Navy revoked an honorary title for the comedian, and he has resigned from the board of trustees at Temple University.
PAVE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sexual assault prevention and survivor empowerment, started a petition on WhiteHouse.gov last week urging the president to revoke Cosby's presidential medal of freedom, which was bestowed upon him by President George W. Bush in 2009, reported Houston News.
"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest award bestowed on civilians for their contributions to society. Bill Cosby does not deserve to be on the list of distinguished recipients," the petition states. "We urge the administration to take the unprecedented action of revoking this award," according to ABC News.
The Cosby camp issued a statement to ABC News last week saying, "The only reason Mr. Cosby settled was because it would have been embarrassing in those days to put all those women on the stand and his family had no clue. That would have been very hurtful."
