CASPER, Wyo. — On Thursday, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was honored, along with 19 other people, with the Presidential Citizens Medal.
The medal is the second-highest honor a president can bestow, and it was given to Cheney, as well as Bennie Thompson — both of whom oversaw the congressional investigation into the Capitol riot that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.
Cheney, who lost her House seat to the Donald Trump–endorsed Harriet Hageman in 2022, was a constant critic of the former president due to his alleged involvement in the Capitol insurrection that took place on Jan. 6.
Since then, Trump and Cheney have exchanged a constant war of words, with the former congresswoman losing support from many of her Republican contemporaries. In addition to being defeated by Hageman in the 2022 election for the U.S. House of Representatives, Cheney was removed from her position as the House Republican Conference Chair by then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Still, Cheney maintained her stance against former President Trump and those who supported him, which earned the respect of President Biden and others.
On Thursday, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, President Biden awarded Cheney the Presidential Citizens Medal. Video of the ceremony showed Cheney accept the award from President Biden “for putting the American people over party.”
As Cheney walked up to accept the award from the President, both posed for photographs and a video of the moment showed the two holding hands throughout the presentation.
President Biden awards Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney pic.twitter.com/YqNt68A4AO — Acyn (@Acyn) January 2, 2025
Cheney still has her detractors, including Wyoming Senator John Barrasso. Barrasso, in a statement, said that President Biden “was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness — not Wyoming.”
Perhaps sharing Barrasso’s beliefs, former president Trump took to his Truth Social page to condemn the move as well.
Biden gave Liz Cheney a Medal yesterday, even though she has proven to be totally corrupt. She, “Bennie” Thompson, and the rest of the Unselect Committee, destroyed and deleted all evidence from their crooked investigation of January 6th. Cheney has the distinction of losing her… — Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 3, 2025
Cheney responded, continuing the war of words with the former and future president.
Donald, this is not the Soviet Union. You can’t change the truth and you cannot silence us. Remember all your lies about the voting machines, the election workers, your countless allegations of fraud that never happened? Many of your lawyers have been sanctioned, disciplined or… https://t.co/sGLYo6i4Xz — Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 3, 2025
As of March 2023, Cheney is a professor of practice at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
