Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among the five people named Thursday as recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for acting to protect democracy.
Cheney was chosen for how she broke with her party to defend the constitution, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said in its announcement. Zelensky was chosen for his leadership of the Ukrainian people during the Russian invasion.
The other honorees are Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Fulton County, Georgia, elections worker Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss.
The foundation said four U.S. officials were chosen for standing up for free and fair elections, as the system is challenged in ways it has never been before.
Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the awards May 22 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. The award was created by the family of the late president to honor public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good, and is
Zelensky was chosen because of the way he has ‘marshaled the spirit, patriotism and untiring sacrifice of the Ukrainian people in a life-or-death fight for their country,’ as Russia pours in troops and assaults cities and towns, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said.
‘There is no more important issue facing our country, and the world, today than the fight for democracy,’ Kennedy said in a statement. ‘The war in Ukraine has shown the world that we can´t take freedom for granted, and the courage of our elected officials in the U.S. reminds us that as citizens we each have a responsibility to protect our democracy and exercise our fundamental right to vote.’
Cheney chaired the Republican House Conference before being ousted from her post last year because of her unrelenting criticism of former President Donald Trump and statements blaming him for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The foundation said Cheney ‘broke with most in her party, urged fidelity to the Constitution, and stood her ground with honor and conviction,’ and that she has remained a ‘consistent and courageous voice in defense of democracy.’
Cheney was given the award on the same day audio surfaced of her asking House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy if Trump would resign from the presidency because of his actions on January 6th.
McCarthy told fellow GOP lawmakers shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection that he would urge Trump to resign, according to audio that aired on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show.
In the recording of a Jan. 10 House Republican Leadership call, McCarthy is heard discussing the Democratic effort to remove Trump from office and saying he would tell Trump, ‘I think it will pass and it would be my recommendation he should resign.’
In the same conversation, McCarthy told his colleagues he doubted Trump would take the advice to step aside.
‘That would be my recommendation,’ McCarthy is heard saying in response to question from Cheney.
Cheney’s office said the lawmaker did not leak the tapes, which became public after McCarthy denied saying he would urge Trump to resign. The audio showed that was what he said.
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