WASHINGTON, D.C. – From actor Jon Voight to Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle, honorees honored Andrew Breitbart at Saturday's Patriot Awards ceremony, recognizing the immeasurable breadth of his accomplishments. I emphasized that.
After receiving one of the few Patriot Awards, which recognize individual contributions to the MAGA movement, Voight paid tribute to Breitbart in his remarks. He recalled meeting Breitbart years ago at a small gathering of conservatives in Hollywood.
WATCH — Actor Jon Voight remembers Andrew Breitbart at Patriot Awards: 'I loved him'
“I saw Andrew Breitbart and he was sitting next to Gary Sinise and I said, 'Gary, I know this guy.' He's great,” Voight recalled.
Voight recalled a conversation with Breitbart after the event.
“I said, 'Andrew, you're a special person.' I said, 'What are you going to do with that energy?' And I said to him, 'I'll say some things, I'm not as open as some people, but I'll say some things — I'd like to be in the game a little bit. 'I'm not afraid of that,''' Voight recalled. “And he said to me, ‘John, I can’t wait. I can't wait to see their faces. ”
“I said, 'Oh, this person is dangerous,'” he added, drawing laughter. “And I saw what he did with that energy. He stood up against everything. He said these most amazing things.”
One Voight pointed to Breitbart's famous confrontation with Occupy protesters, telling them to “behave” and “stop raping people!”
“He stood up in front of them, and they tried to yell at him and abuse him, but the press was there, right? So he knew what to do with the press. “Voight said. “He stood up and stood in front of the people and immediately went to them and said, 'Stop the rape!'” Stop the rape! He said it like 15 times and that was it. In doing so, the message was sent to the people that these people were perverse, bad, and criminal. ”
“He just had a great imagination. I loved him. I talked to him the day before he died,” Voight added. “And he was attacked, you know, just like our president was attacked, Rudy Giuliani was attacked and all these other things that happened, but he stood up. He was very beautiful.''
Boyle also paid tribute to Breitbart after receiving the award.
“Andrew Breitbart has always said that culture is above politics and that we have to win the culture wars. To be clear, the Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced that Nelly will be attending the Inaugural Ball on Monday night. Last night, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, and There was a performance by Urja Boy. Not my cup of tea, but whatever. Importantly, Rascal Flatts performed at a different venue and Carrie Underwood sang at the inauguration. has won the culture war, people,” Boyle said to applause.
“Andrew Breitbart would be so proud of where we are as a movement today. He was a really good friend of mine, and we have a very, very bright future ahead of us.” he concluded his speech. “So here in the center of power of the establishment media, if you will, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., we declare: Establishment media, you are dead, and we are dead on this matter. We’re going to win.”
James O'Keefe, founder of O'Keefe Media Group, also honored Breitbart when he received the Patriot Award.
“So I'll keep this pretty short, but you know I'm grateful for this honor and for Andrew Breitbart. There's so much I want to say, but I've been working on this job since I was in college a long time ago. He used to say, “We are the media now, right?'' 'We are the media,” O'Keefe said, referring to OMG's coverage last week of a story that led to the firing of a Pentagon official.
“This week, in an unusual series of events, the Pentagon fired this man because he was an advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “But in an unusual series of events, no one in the D.C. press corps reported on the incident,” O'Keefe added. “And I think Andrew said this in a lot of words, but it’s not that legacy media just aren’t reporting the news.nOh, they're in the press suppression business. And stop complaining to the media. Now understand that you, me, we are the media. ”
The memorial service comes as Breitbart approaches March 1, 2025, the 13th anniversary of his death.
Breitbart News first reported that the Patriot Award, an 18-inch bronze statue of President Trump that resembles the larger-than-life two-story statue of President Trump, was nearing completion in November.
“Patriot founder Ashley Sansalone was responsible for the idea for the statue and managed the construction and logistics of the project,” event organizer Dustin Stockton told Breitbart News. “If it wasn't for Ash, none of this would have happened.”
Stockton is a former Breitbart News reporter.
