Rep. Liz Cheney’s battle with former President Donald Trump over election fraud claims and the Jan. 6 riots has won her a “Profile in Courage” award.
In naming her a winner, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum said that the embattled Republican has “stood her ground with honor and conviction.”
Cheney responded, “If we do not stand for truth, the rule of law and our Constitution, if we set aside our founding principles for the politics of the moment, the miracle of our constitutional republic will slip away.”
The JFK center, which typically selects one annual winner — often a contrarian like last year’s pick of Sen. Mitt Romney for voting to impeach Trump — named others this year, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and three who fought challenges to 2020 balloting.
“For the first time ever, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award will honor five individuals — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona Representative Russell ‘Rusty’ Bowers, and Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss — each for their courage to protect and defend democracy in the United States and abroad,” said the library.
“There is no issue today more important than the fight for democracy. These honorees have placed their careers and lives on the line to protect democratic principles and free and fair elections. They embody what President Kennedy admired most in others —political courage,” it added.
In her statement, Cheney cited fellow winner Zelensky. “The war between Russia and Ukraine is a battle of good vs. evil, freedom vs. tyranny. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are teaching a new generation of Americans what our founding fathers learned first-hand: absolute and uncompromising courage in the face of tyranny,” she said.
