Joe Biden received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination from a member of the British Parliament, The Hill reported. The news comes shortly after President Donald Trump received a nod of consideration for the award and right before the two men face off in their first presidential debate Tuesday evening.
Chris Bryant, a member of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, announced he put Biden up for the award due to the Democratic presidential candidate’s penchant for working to change hearts with words over guns.
“When others have resorted to violent solutions, [Biden] has argued that the best force is the force of argument,” Bryant told the Evening Standard .
“Because guns can stop a heart but well-placed words can change many hearts, and many hearts can change a world.”
Bryant, who was once the shadow leader of the Commons, appeared to time his submission to coincide with the presidential debate, according to the ES report. The British MP also noted the ability to submit someone to the committee is a little-known right of members of the British government.
Any head of state or national level politician is eligible to submit a name for consideration to the committee for the prize, which many consider prestigious.
Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a Norwegian Parliament member, proposed Trump for the honor both in 2018 and 2020. This year, Tybring-Gjedde said he chose the United States president because of his part in a recent agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize their relations.
“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other peace prize nominees,” said Tybring-Gjedde.
A group of Australian law professors also added Trump’s name for the second time in 2020, Skye News Australia reported.
“What he has done with the Trump Doctrine is that he has decided he would no longer have America in endless wars, wars which achieve nothing but the killing of thousands of young Americans,” said Eminent law professor David Flint, who was among the four professors who put Trump up for the award.
Among the field of 318 people and entities up for consideration for the 2020 version of the honor is Russian President Vladimir Putin. A group of Russian public figures added him for consideration. The incredible number of nominations makes this year the fourth largest year ever in terms of submissions.
Biden and Trump, the two candidates for the 2020 election , square off in their first debate tonight in Cleveland, Ohio.
