The headline for a recent article from Rush Limbaugh’s website declares: “President Trump Joins Your Host as a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.”
Trump was nominated for the prize by Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a far-right member of the Norwegian parliament, for Trump’s role in facilitating an agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committeeaccepts nominations from thousands of officials at the national level of government, university professors, past Peace Prize winners, and current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, among others. A total of 211 individuals and 107 organizations were nominated in 2020, and the names of nominees are not revealed by the committee for 50 years, with knowledge of Tybring-Gjedde’s nomination of Trump becoming public only because he announced he’d done so. This was, in fact, the second time Tybring-Gjedde has nominated Trump, with the first nomination coming after Trump’s talks with North Korea in 2018.
Limbaugh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 by Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative legal advocacy group, in response to Al Gore being nominated that year. The foundation does not now and did not then meet the criteria to be a nominator. Even if somehow Landmark Legal Foundation was deemed an acceptable nominator, it would have been a moot point in 2007: While currently anyone on the Nobel Committee’s list of qualified nominators can submit a nomination, in 2007 nominations were by invitation only. The Nobel website explained at the time that “The Nobel Committee sends confidential forms to persons who are competent and qualified to nominate.” Mark Levin, then-president of Landmark Legal Foundation, noted in his nomination letter that Limbaugh’s nomination was “unsolicited.” It’s unclear if Limbaugh was being facetious in bragging about his “nomination,” which, presumably, he would know isn’t real.
Donald Trump has, indeed, been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. But given Landmark Legal Foundation’s lack of standing to nominate Limbaugh, it’s inaccurate to say Trump is joining Limbaugh as a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.
Photograph by Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons.
Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.
You are currently using a limited time guest pass and do not have access to commenting. Consider subscribing to join the conversation.
With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.