ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, President Joe Biden presented Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, leaders of the congressional probe into the Capitol riot, with the nation’s second-highest civilian honor, despite former President Donald Trump’s claims that they should face imprisonment for their involvement in the investigation.
Presidential Citizens Medal
According to AP, Biden awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people in a ceremony in the East Room.
“Together, you embody the central truth: We’re a great nation because we’re a good people,” he said. “Our democracy begins and ends with the duties of citizenship. That’s our work for the ages and it’s what all of you embody.”
Together, you embody the central truth: We’re a great nation because we’re a good people.” President Joe Biden.
Biden last year honoured people who were involved in defending the Capitol from a mob of angry Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, or who helped safeguard the will of American voters during the 2020 presidential election, when Trump tried and failed to overturn the results.
Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman
Cheney, a Republican former Wyoming congresswoman, and Rep. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, led the House committee that investigated the insurrection. The committee’s final report asserted that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the election he lost to Biden and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. Thompson wrote that Trump “lit that fire.”
The audience erupted in loud cheers and stood when Cheney took the stage. Biden clasped her hand and gave her the medal. The announcer said she was being given it “for putting the American people over party.”
Pre-emptive pardons
Cheney, who lost her seat in the GOP primary in August 2022, later said she would vote for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race and campaigned with the Democratic nominee, raising Trump’s ire. Biden has been considering whether to offer pre-emptive pardons to Cheney and others Trump has targeted, the AP reported.
