CNN host Michael Smerconish said that there’s no “character” requirement to win the Nobel Peace Prize, as he advocated for President Donald Trump to win the prestigious award next year if peace holds in Israel and Gaza.
The Nobel committee announced Friday that this year’s prize went to Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado, who went on to dedicate her award to Trump. This came despite a flurry of last-minute lobbying from the president and his allies, who were calling for him to receive the award after he announced the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas earlier this week.
However, the deadline for Nobel Peace Prize nominations is January 31, and awardees are determined following an eight-month screening process.
On Saturday’s episode of Smerconish, the CNN host said he polled his viewers on Friday about whether Trump should receive the prize next year if peace between Israel and Hamas lasts. He noted the president wasn’t likely to receive it for this week’s deal “given the timing and the deadline for the nominations.”
“More than 35,000 people voted, not scientific, but interesting nonetheless,” Smerconish said. “In round numbers, 75 percent said ‘no,’ which I thought was more reflective of Trump derangement syndrome than anything else.”
Smerconish went on to say he couldn’t find any explicit reference to “character” in Alfred Nobel’s will, which describes the requirements for the Nobel Prizes.
“I’ve looked at what Alfred Nobel’s will actually says, and character is not expressly stated. It speaks of establishing fraternity among nations,” he said. “So if he’s able to do something that no one else was able to do, prepared and able to do, if a year from now the peace has held, then he ought to be the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize.”
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
This comes after the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, addressed a reporter’s question about Trump’s loss.
“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydnes said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
Some on social media perceived his response as a slight to the president, even though Frydnes did not explicitly mention Trump or indicate he lacked those qualities. He reiterated in a follow-up interview with CNN that the committee is an independent body and reviews nominations based on the requirements in Nobel’s will.
Meanwhile, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung accused the Nobel committee of placing “politics over peace.”
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” he wrote on X. “He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.”
Trump claimed Friday that Machado called him after she won the award and told him, “I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it.” Trump called it a “very nice thing to do.”
“I didn’t say ‘then give it to me,’ though, I think she might have,” Trump continued. “She was very nice. And I’ve been, you know, I’ve been helping her along the way. She — they need a lot of help in Venezuela, it’s a basic disaster.”
