File:2015-07-08 White House Press Secretary on Revoking Medal of Freedom from Bill Cosby.jpg

Q And then, finally, if I could, on the issue of Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby, in fact, has a congressional -- I'm sorry, a Presidential Medal of Freedom that was granted to him by President Bush. Today, a group of victims of rape came out and asked President Obama to revoke his Medal of Freedom. Does the President have that power? And would he consider doing that as Mr. Cosby comes under fire?

MR. EARNEST: Well, Jim, I hadn’t seen that particular statement from the group that you’re referencing. I haven’t at this point heard any discussion of taking that step. But I can tell you that, as a general matter, this administration has been very focused on countering sexual assault, and doing so in a variety of settings. The administration has been very active in pushing the military, who, to their credit, has taken some important steps to root out sexual assault in the military. The President has spoken very forcefully as the Commander-in-Chief about those efforts.

The administration has worked hard to prevent -- to build awareness and put in place programs to prevent sexual assault on college campuses across the country. And the President has played a leading role in the “It’s On Us” campaign, which makes clear that all of us have a responsibility to step up and to speak out to ensure the safety of people in our community. And this is an issue that the President feels strongly about and he’s spoken forcefully about it in the past, and that continues to be true to this day.

Q And revoking a medal like this would be unprecedented, I understand. Is it possible, do you know? Is it legally possible for it to be pulled back?

MR. EARNEST: I don’t know the answer to that, but we can look into that for you.

Q Follow-up question please, Josh?

MR. EARNEST: I’ll come back to you.

...

April.

Q Josh, I want to go back to what Jim asked. With your answer, it seems this administration is well aware of the news reports about Bill Cosby, this iconic man who now -- information has been released that he, indeed, gave Quaaludes to women. What is the President saying about this, particularly as he is someone who has promoted women and girls? And as you said, he has fought against issues of sexual assault in the military and on college campuses. What is he personally saying about this, as Bill Cosby is an iconic person throughout the years, and globally, not just in the United States?

MR. EARNEST: I believe the last time the President talked about this was he was asked about it in an interview with Univision back in December. So you can take a look at the President’s comments at that point. I haven’t spoken to him since these latest revelations that were reported publicly in the last couple of days.

Q But with this -- and going back to Jim’s question -- is it out of the realm of possibility? Because of this -- and again, the times that we're in, the fact that there is a push for women and girls in this administration, and the fact that you are countering sexual assaults -- with somebody like this, this could be a very big statement. Would the administration consider revoking his medal from the White House, from the Bush administration?

MR. EARNEST: Well, as I mentioned to Jim, I don't know whether or not it’s legally possible to do so. But --

Q Can you investigate the possibility, because, again, of what I asked?