Biden's Medal of Freedom picks show Democrats are 'out of touch' and 'trolling' Republicans: columnist

Schaffer wrote that Biden's choices, announced on Jan. 4, actually displayed a cadre of awardees who failed to defeat President-elect Trump during the campaign. 

"For all their cultural and humanitarian accomplishments, Wintour and Andrés aren't exactly selling products that ordinary Americans can afford," Schaffer wrote. "The Republicanism of the Romney and Cheney families lost elections because it was unpopular. (This year, the Cheney endorsement didn't help the Democratic candidate, either.)"

Former Sen. Mitt Romney posthumously accepted a medal on behalf of his late father, George Romney, a three-term Republican governor of Michigan. 

"To some Republicans - who particularly reacted against the inclusion of George Soros, the bankroller of liberal causes and longtime conservative smear-campaign target - it felt like trolling," Schaffer wrote. 

"Worse still, the politics are unlikely to help Biden's party or his legacy," the columnist added.

He said that without Biden rising above the political fray in Washington, D.C., the "laureates also feel like a last-minute political diss of the incoming administration."

Political commentators and Biden opponents used the event to attack the president, with billionaire Elon Musk emerging as one of the most prominent voices to bash megadonor George Soros in particular.

Fox News' Michael Dorgon and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.