Biden honors Liz Cheney and others with presidential citizens medal

Washington
President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honor in the United States, to 20 individuals in a ceremony at the White House on Thursday.
Among the honorees were members of the House of Representatives committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
The award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to democracy, and this group included activist figures and civil rights leaders.
Notably, former Republican Representative Liz Cheney and Democrat Bennie Thompson, who served as the chair and vice-chair of the committee, were recognized for their work in investigating the Capitol attack.
In his remarks, President Biden emphasised the importance of citizenship, quoting the preamble to the US Constitution: “The most important title in America is not president but citizen. It is ‘We the people,’” a statement highlighting the nation’s democratic foundation.
Cheney, who became a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, received praise for prioritizing the American people over party politics. Thompson, too, was acknowledged for his long-standing dedication to safeguarding the US Constitution.
The ceremony’s timing coincided closely with the fourth anniversary of the January 6 events, which saw a violent mob storm the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The attack followed false claims by Trump that he had won the election.
On January 6, 2021, Trump held a rally where he repeated unfounded allegations of voter fraud, encouraging supporters to march to the Capitol.
Once there, rioters clashed with law enforcement, broke into the Capitol building, and halted Congress’s certification of the election results. During the chaos, rioters made threats against Vice President Mike Pence, who was overseeing the certification.
In the aftermath, 1,561 individuals have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot, with 645 receiving prison sentences. Weapons including firearms, tasers, knives, and pepper spray were brought into the Capitol by the rioters.
The U.S. Justice Department has continued its investigation into the events, and Biden previously awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to law enforcement officers and election officials who were targeted in the wake of the attack.
The Congressional committee investigating the Capitol riot was formed to probe the circumstances surrounding the attack, and in its final weeks, it released an 850-page report that recommended criminal charges against Trump.
The report accused him of orchestrating a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, asserting that “the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed.” Cheney, one of only two Republicans on the committee, became a target of fierce criticism from Trump and his supporters for her role in the investigation.
Cheney and her colleague Adam Kinzinger, both of whom left office after the committee disbanded in 2023, were among the few Republicans to confront Trump directly.
Cheney, a former representative from Wyoming, has since become a visible critic of Trump, and she continues to speak out against his influence on the Republican Party.
In a December 2023 interview with NPR, Cheney described Trump’s impact on the party as a “cult of personality” and warned of the dangers to US democracy, saying, “He talks about weaponizing the levers of our government against his political opponents…I think that what it would mean for the republic is that we won’t be a republic anymore.”
Trump, in contrast, has accused the January 6 committee of wrongdoing, suggesting without evidence that the committee suppressed or deleted evidence. He referred to the committee members, including Cheney and Thompson, as “political thugs” and called for their prosecution.
In a December 2023 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump remarked, “Honestly, they should go to jail,” continuing to criticize the investigation as politically motivated.
The ceremony recognizing Cheney and others took place less than three weeks before Trump is set to take office for a second term, following the 2024 presidential election. His return to power has heightened political tensions, with Cheney’s recent comments about Trump and the Republican Party continuing to fuel debate.