At Least Three Committee Members Skeptical of Trump’s Candidacy
Donald Trump has long aspired to win the Nobel Peace Prize and believes that the recent efforts he made to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine could be the key to securing the award, CE Report quotes ANSA.
However, according to the New York Times, Trump may not have the majority support within the Norwegian Nobel Committee that decides the prize.
At least three of the five members have publicly criticized the U.S. president, making his path to winning their votes far from certain.
The chairman of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, condemned in December "the erosion of freedom of expression even in democratic nations," naming Trump specifically. "Trump launched more than 100 verbal attacks on the media during his campaign," Frydnes said. He was also head of PEN Norway, a group that promotes freedom of expression.
In May, Kristin Clemet, former Norwegian center-right Minister of Education and another committee member, wrote: "After just over 100 days as president, Trump is well on his way to dismantling American democracy and is doing everything possible to demolish the liberal, rules-based world order."
A third committee member, potentially a key swing vote for a skeptical majority against Trump, has posted several critical messages about him during his first term. For example, on Facebook the day before the 2020 election, Gry Larsen wore a red baseball cap with the slogan “Make Human Rights Great Again.” Larsen, a former center-left politician, also tweeted in 2017 that "Trump is putting millions of lives at risk," criticizing his decision to cut U.S. foreign aid.
The other two committee members have no known critical history toward Trump. One of them, academic Asle Toje, wrote sympathetically about Trump’s legal troubles during the Biden administration.
In a country where only 7% of the population said they would vote for Trump compared to former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to an October Novus poll, skepticism toward Trump is widespread. And some members of the Nobel Committee openly share that view.
