Two top Jan. 6 committee lawmakers, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, were part of a group awarded the nation’s second-highest civilian honor by President Joe Biden on Thursday.
Thompson and Cheney, awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, have both been floated as pardon candidates in Biden’s final days in office. Allies of President-elect Donald Trump have suggested that the incoming administration could pursue charges against Cheney and Thompson, in addition to a lengthy list of Trump’s perceived enemies.
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Trump himself has suggested that Cheney, Thompson, and other members of the Jan. 6 committee should be jailed.
“Together, you embody, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, the central truth of our great nation,” the president told the gathered group Thursday evening. “Our democracy begins and ends with the duties of citizenship. That’s our work for the ages. That’s what all of you, I mean this, all of you embody.”
Cheney earned a lengthy ovation while being awarded her medal, praised in her introduction as putting “the American people over party.”
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The White House announcer similarly honored Thompson for “his lifelong dedication to safeguarding our Constitution.”
In total, Biden awarded 20 Presidential Citizens Medals on Thursday at the White House. Notable recipients included attorney Mary Bonauto, NBA champion and former New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley, and nurse Diane Carlson Evans, the founder of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation.
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You can watch Biden’s remarks in full below.
