MAGA Furious Over Liz Cheney’s Medal From Biden: ‘Clown Award’
January 2, 2025
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Top supporters of President-elect Donald Trump have responded negatively to President Joe Biden’s decision to give Liz Cheney the Presidential Citizens medal.
Biden will award the former Republican congresswoman the medal for her role on the January 6th select committee, which investigated Trump for his role in inciting violence at the Capitol.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment on this story via email.
Why It Matters
Cheney has become one of the MAGA movement’s most high-profile conservative critics, frequently aligning herself with Democrats against Trump after she left Congress, where she represented Wyoming in the House. The feeling is mutual, with Trump singling Cheney as a “war hawk” and implying she could serve jail time for unfair prosecution during her time on the January 6 committee.
What To Know
Cheney and 19 other people selected by Biden will be awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal during a ceremony at the White House on Thursday.
The White House made it clear that the award was for her role on the January 6 committee, saying in a statement: “her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together.”
The announcement was met with scorn from many of Trump’s most prominent backers.
Mercedes Schlapp, a former Trump administration adviser, described Cheney’s actions as a “witchhunt”, writing on social media: “Cheney receives a participation trophy from Biden for leading a political witchhunt against President Trump and allegedly tampering with evidence.”
Former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney speaks at a town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris, at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on October 21 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Cheney is set to receive a medal… Former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney speaks at a town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris, at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on October 21 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Cheney is set to receive a medal for her work on the January 6 committee.
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One of Trump’s top team members and a key figure inside his campaign, Jason Miller, described the award as “pathetic,” saying: “With attacks happening in the United States and around the world, THIS is how Biden is spending his time today?”
Independent conservative journalist Glenn Greenwald said the award was hypocritical, writing: “Having Joe Biden, as one of his last acts, bestow a presidential medal on Liz Cheney says so much about the value system of the Democratic Party. But what “Biden” said about Cheney — an advocate still of countless views liberals denounce as fascist — is even more telling.”
One Trump supporter even went so far as to call the medal a “clown award,” claiming that giving it to Cheney “rendered the award meaningless,” in a post that has since been deleted.
What People Are Saying
The White House said in a statement:“Throughout two decades in public service, including as a congresswoman for Wyoming and vice chair of the committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice—and reached across the aisle—to defend our nation and the ideals we stand for: freedom, dignity, and decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together.”
What Happens Next
Biden is set to leave the White House on January 20, making the award ceremony on January 9 one of his last acts as president. Trump will return to the office of president on the same day.
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