And just when we thought the Nattering Nabob of Narcissism, who occupies the living space at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., had reached heretofore unseen championship levels of shamelessness, comes the recent news that Mr. Trump decided to award Lou Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

(No, really.)

It's kind of like the Empire State Building of effrontery: You almost have to admire it for its size.

Imagine: Mr. Trump's predecessors chose Neil Armstrong, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou, Walt Disney, Helen Keller, Jonas Salk, Jackie Robinson, Mother Teresa, Arthur Ashe, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela for the nation's highest civilian honor.

And this guy picks the biggest phony who ever lived.

It's kind of perfect in a perverse way. Because I can't think of a better illustration of Mr. Trump's presidency. Among his last official acts is to reward an 83-year-old cheater, who during the maskless medal ceremony questioned Joe Biden's commitment to Catholicism — to the point where Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins had to issue a statement distancing the university from their former coach's comments.

But then, only in Trumpian terrain do Lou Holtz, Mother Teresa and Dr. King occupy the same sentence.

The Nattering Nabob's choice for the nation's highest civilian honor cheated while coaching football at Minnesota, cheated while coaching football at Notre Dame, berated a television reporter while coaching football at South Carolina and used a reference to Hitler when discussing the leadership qualities of former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez.

Real American hero here.

Fact: In 1985 while coaching at Minnesota, Holtz paid a recruit and then later found a new job at another school for the assistant coach who witnessed the payment. Minnesota went on probation.

Fact: At Notre Dame, Holtz tacitly approved the relationship between his players and former booster Kimberly Dunbar, whose talent for embezzlement allowed her to give Holtz's players gifts, trips and money. Notre Dame was found guilty of major NCAA rules violations for the first time in its history.

Fact: At ESPN, Rece Davis made a point about Rodriguez's leadership qualities. Holtz replied that Rodriguez might be a leader of men but, "You know, Hitler was great leader, too."

Fact: The Times Picayune of New Orleans reported that during a speech to the Republican National Coalition for Life, Holtz called the high number of immigrants coming to the United States an "invasion."

"I don't want to become you," Holtz said of immigrants. "I don't want to speak your language, I don't want to celebrate your holidays, I sure as hell don't want to cheer for your soccer team!"

I'm sure some of you laughed at that. I find it about as funny as a church fire.

Of course, pandering to people like Lou Holtz is nothing new. He won a lot of games at a high profile school and aw-shucksed his way through many interviews, carefully honing a persona that gullible alumni loved. Nobody else ever said it better, though, than a columnist who identified Holtz's true vocation: "hurting other people at their expense to make himself likeable and profitable."

I'm not sure why I'm surprised — or even perturbed — that the Nattering Nabob of Narcissism would identify so well with somebody who espouses what Lou Holtz does. But then maybe it's the Nattering Nabob himself who has Lou Holtz-ed his way through life, too.

Holtz disclosed Nov. 19 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Boston Globe reported that Holtz's medal ceremony at the White House "included about 30 people, most of whom did not wear masks." Right. Because who needs them anyway?

Maya Angelou, Jackie Robinson, Jonas Salk and ... Lou Holtz. True Trumpian tomfoolery.

Lou Holtz and Donald Trump. I can't think of two other people who deserve each other more. And stand for so much less.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro