President-elect Donald Trump received the “Patriot of the Year” at the 2024 Fox Nation Patriot Awards on Thursday night. Trump was recognized for his bravery, courage, and leadership during the 2024 presidential campaign, which included multiple assassination attempts and plots against him.
The Patriot Awards recognizes “America’s finest patriots, including military veterans, first responders, and other inspirational everyday heroes,” noted a press release. They have been presented by Fox Nation, the streaming service for Fox News, since 2019. This year’s show was held at the Tilles Center for Performing Arts in Brookville, New York, and hosted by longtime Fox News host, and Long Island native, Sean Hannity. Trump was given the award during the show’s finale.
Wearing his trademark blue business suit, Trump was introduced by Hannity. As the president-elect walked on the stage to receive the award, Lee Greenwood performed a live rendition of “God Bless the USA.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the honoree, our patriot of the year, our recipient, the soon-to-be 47th president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump,” Hannity said before introducing the president-elect.
Trump expressed gratitude for the award before thanking Hannity, Greenwood, and the crowd.
“We had just a spectacular election,” Trump said to a cheering crowd. “They were thinking it was going to be close, but it wasn’t close. We won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes. We won all seven swing states. We won the most votes ever gotten, by millions, by a Republican candidate – and I think I could say also a Democrat candidate, but I won’t bother getting into that.”
Trump then stressed how hard he worked during his campaign and described the rigors of it as necessary because he had a “very important job to do,” saying he “had to win” and “bring our country back.”
Trump then spoke about the illegal immigrants and border security issues.
“When you look at all of the people who flow through open borders, who could ever want open borders? Who would want that?” Trump asked.
The crowd sneered and booed in response to the president-elect’s seemingly rhetorical question.
Trump then mentioned his accomplishments as president regarding the border. He spoke in a tone that sounded like he was still on the campaign trail.
“We built 571 miles of wall, which is far more than I said we were going to do,” Trump said. “We ordered another 200, and I heard that they weren’t going to use it because we had a very bad result in that election.”
Trump then briefly discussed the importance of strengthening election security. He mentioned the 2020 election, calling it a “very bad result” and a “very unfair situation.”
“We’re going to get things straightened out in this country, including elections,” Trump said. “This one was too big to rig.”
Trump went on to list a variety of issues plaguing the country from inflation to energy prices to crime. He then announced that he would fix all of these problems.
The Patriot Award was a specially-designed miniature replica of the United States flag. It featured a commemorative stripe in the middle of the flag made of steel recovered from the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. While the show’s honoree and featured recipient was the president-elect, he was just one of many who received awards.
Former Army vice chief of staff Gen. Richard “Dick” Cody received the “Fox Weather Ultimate Patriot Award.” Cody was recognized for his efforts in helping North Carolina residents recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene in September, Fox News reported.
“I was just one of probably 100 helicopter pilots that showed up and answered the call to duty one more time for the devastation in North Carolina,” Cody said. “A lot of civilian helicopters, a lot of active duty helicopter pilots and stuff… So I accept this award very humbly on behalf of all of them because they did some great work out there.”
Cameron Blasek was another award winner. A high school senior from St. Leon, Indiana, Blasek won the “Young Patriot Award” for refusing to buckle and acquiesce to the reported demands of his high school tried to prevent him from displaying the nation’s flag, Fox News reported. Blasek was suspended for his actions and allegedly faces expulsion.
“I want to say that I’m humbled and proud to get this award tonight,” Blasek said.
Stephanie Diller accepted the “T2T Stephen Siller Back the Blue Award” on behalf of her deceased husband, New York Police Department Officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed during a routine traffic stop in New York City in March. Diller’s assassin allegedly had 20 prior arrests, according to Fox News. Diller is survived by his aforementioned wife and 1-year-old son.
“Tonight is especially special because I’m receiving this award from Stephen Siller,” the widow said. “And looking at Stephen, a man who also lost his father and is up here supporting us, it gives me hope that my son will be okay,” Stephanie said after receiving the award.”
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Several others were recognized for their courageous exploits over the last year. The award show closed with a sense of optimism and a vision of the future. The president-elect vowed the country would be “better than ever before” and more “successful than ever before.”
“We’re going to do something that I’ve been talking about for eight years,” Trump said. “We’re going to do it again. We have to do it again, and that’s we’re going to make America great again.”
