President Joe Biden is awarding former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and Mississippi Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson the Presidential Citizens Medal—the second-highest civilian honor in the United States— for leading the congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. In contrast, President-elect Donald Trump has condemned both awardees, stating they should be jailed.
"The recognition from Biden and threats from Trump remind us that the US remains deeply polarized and that Democrats and Republicans have different views of critical recent events like January 6," Donald Nieman, historian and author of The Path to Paralysis: How Our Politics Became Nasty, Dysfunctional and a Threat to the Republic, told the Latin Times.
