Washington (KRON/CNN) — President Obama on Wednesday said that there was no precedent for revoking the U.S. medal of freedom as some have called for him to do for comedian Bill Cosby. But in making his comments, the President did outline his definition of rape.
“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,” Obama said Wednesday at a White House press conference.
The president declined to address the specific allegations against Cosby because of the pending legal matters. But he left no question about his position on the larger issue of drugs, consent and rape.
Earlier this month, details of a 2005 lawsuit were revealed that showed that Cosby admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with.
Shortly thereafter online petitions began to have the president revoke the medal. A sexual assault awareness group has called on the White House to revoke Cosby’s medal, which was awarded to the comedian in 2002 by President George W. Bush.
The question came amid a press conference President Obama gave to address questions about a deal to rein in Iran’s nuclear program that will be under review from Congress soon. The question cam from April Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks.