--- description: Josh Earnest said the president would "take a look" at revoking Bill Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom if Congress approves it. title: Obama May 'Take a Look' at Revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b91a988e994ec8d/6988774bf887dc2809e93f2f/bill-cosby.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama May 'Take a Look' at Revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2016 3:44 PM CUT  Bill Cosby, arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault, in Elkins Park, Pa. on Dec. 30, 2015. Bill Cosby, arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault, in Elkins Park, Pa. on Dec. 30, 2015.Montgomery County District Attorney's Office/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2016 3:44 PM CUT President Obama [will “take a look” at revoking Bill Cosby’s Presidential Medal of Freedom](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-bill-revoke-cosbys-presidential-medal-freedom/story?id=36149811 "undefined") if Congress empowers him to do so, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar has introduced a bill to “affirm the power of the president” to revoke Cosby’s medal, ABC reports, after Obama said in July that “[there is no precedent for revoking the medal](http://time.com/3959225/bill-cosby-barack-obama-presidential-medal-freedom/ "undefined").” Earnest told ABC that if Congress approves Gosar’s legislation, Obama would look at it. “It’s something that Congress will have to consider,” Earnest said. “We’ll take a look at the proposal if Congress takes a vote on it and we’ll let you know if the President chooses to sign it.” “Symbolic commemorations are always difficult to deal with,” Earnest said, expressing concern over creating the precedent of “undoing” medals. “But I think the President was quite clear in that news conference in showing his own personal disgust for the kind of behavior that Mr. Cosby is accused of, and you know the President made clear that he doesn’t have any tolerance for it.” Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by more than 50 women, and was [charged with aggravated indecent assault](http://time.com/4164142/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-2/ "undefined") on Dec. 30. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4172773/white-house-bill-cosby-medal-of-freedom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4172773/white-house-bill-cosby-medal-of-freedom/"},"headline":"Obama May 'Take a Look' at Revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom","datePublished":"2016-01-08T15:44:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:54:20.069Z","description":"If Congress approves legislation affirming his power to do so","url":"https://time.com/4172773/white-house-bill-cosby-medal-of-freedom/","keywords":["White House","celebrities","Bill Cosby topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b91a988e994ec8d/6988774bf887dc2809e93f2f/bill-cosby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b91a988e994ec8d/6988774bf887dc2809e93f2f/bill-cosby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bill Cosby Arraignment","caption":"Bill Cosby Arraignment","creditText":"Montgomery County District Attorney's Office/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4172773/white-house-bill-cosby-medal-of-freedom/","name":"Obama May 'Take a Look' at Revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom"}}]}] ```