An ex-DOGE staffer known as “Big Balls” could end up receiving the highest civilian honor in the United States, placing him in the company of luminaries such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa.
Two weeks after 19-year-old Edward Coristine was viciously assaulted during a carjacking in Washington D.C., the White House says it would consider giving the administration official a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his bravery.
The issue was raised during a White House briefing in which press secretary Karoline Leavitt invited MAGA pundit Benny Johnson to ask the first question, as has become customary under the new administration.
After talking about his own personal experience with violence in D.C., thanking Leavitt for Trump’s actions and slamming Democrats, Johnson asked if the president would consider Coristine—better known by his online nickname “Big Balls”—for a Presidential Medal of Freedom in view of his “heroic actions just a few blocks from this building.”
“Perhaps it’s something he would consider,” Leavitt replied.
Coristine, who helped Elon Musk earlier this year to slash the federal government and now works with the Social Security Administration, was left bloodied after he was approached by teenagers at around 3 a.m. in Dupont Circle, a lively neighborhood in northwest Washington.
A 15-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy were subsequently arrested and remain in juvenile jail as the investigation continues.
But the ex-DOGE staffer was elevated to hero status in MAGA world after the president posted a gruesome photo from the crime scene on his Truth Social account, before threatening a federal takeover of D.C. to lower the crime rate.
Last week, Republican Senator Mike Lee even posted a creepy AI-generated clip of Trump placing the Medal of Freedom around Coristine’s neck.
Trump’s threats became reality on Monday, when he announced he would bring in the National Guard and federalize the D.C. metropolitan police to restore law and order—despite the crime rate being at a 30-year low and falling across all categories.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Leavitt said that about 850 officers and agents had been surged across the district.
However, she also revealed that despite the unprecedented presence, only 23 arrests were made—including for low level crimes such as fare evasion and traffic infringements.
“Last night, these arrests consisted of homicide, firearms offenses, possession with intent to distribute narcotics, fare evasion, lewd acts, stalking, possession of a high capacity magazine, fleeing to allude a vehicle, no permits, driving under the influence, reckless driving, and a bench warrant,” she said.
Critics seized on the numbers to claim that the president’s claims of Washington D.C. as a hotbed of “crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor” were grossly exaggerated.
“With 850 agents making 23 arrests, that’s a 37-1 ratio of force results,” wrote one X user going by the handle White House X Ray. “This isn’t a law enforcement surge—it’s political theatre with a federal budget.”
The White House, however, has hit back, while Trump’s supporters say that Coristine is emblematic of D.C.’s crime problem.
Giving him a Presidential Medal of Freedom would appease Trump’s base and place the 19-year-old in the company of recipients who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Over the years, this has included presidents such as Jimmy Carter and Lyndon B Johnson.
