President Joe Biden got a grip at an event honoring Liz Cheney – and wouldn't let go of her hand.
Biden was presenting an award to the former Wyoming Republican, who helped helm the House January 6 Committee and then threw her political support to Vice President Kamala Harris. Cheney's actions infuriated Donald Trump, who in December said she 'should go to jail' after she served on the Democratic-run panel that denounced Trump.
Cheney was one of 20 Americans honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal at the White House Thursday, alongside longtime Biden pals like former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Ted Kaufman (D-Del).
When a military aide announced her name at an event in the East Room of the White House, attendees let out a huge round of applause. They eventually gave her a standing ovation and a welcome that exceeded any of the other recipients.
Biden, 81, smiled and held Cheney's hand after presenting her with a medal. Cheney herself gave Biden a quick pat on the back. At one point about seven seconds in as they mugged for the cameras, Cheney moved forward as if to return to her seat.
Biden pulled her back in, and the photo-op continued, as the crowd continued to roar its approval for the conservative daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney who called Trump's claims of election fraud 'a lie.'
The entire encounter lasted nearly 30 seconds.
Also getting an award was Cheney's former Democratic co-chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).
President Joe Biden held the hand of former Rep. Liz Cheney as she got a standing ovation during an awards ceremony
Cheney's citation said she was honored 'for putting the American people over party,' while Thompson was acknowledged for his 'lifelong dedication to safeguarding our Constitution.'
Seated in the audience were Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa and son Beau Biden, Jr. So was former senator, climate envoy, and presidential candidate John Kerry. Biden called him 'a guy who should have been standing here.'
In his own remarks about the citizens award, Biden acknowledged those who 'see each other not as enemies but as fellow citizens' and said past awards had gone to those who 'defended the free election of 2020.'
Trump senior advisor Jason Miller mocked the selection as 'pathetic' as the nation was dealing with the fallout from the New Orleans terror attack.
'With attacks happening in the United States and around the world, THIS is how Biden is spending his time today?' he posted.
Others Biden awarded included Americans who fought for marriage equality, a pioneer in treating wounded soldiers, and two of the president's longtime friends, former Sens. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
'Together, you embody the central truth: We´re a great nation because we´re a good people,' he said. 'Our democracy begins and ends with the duties of citizenship. That´s our work for the ages and it´s what all of you embody.'
At one point Cheney tried to walk away but the crowd kept applauding and Biden pulled her back in
The Wyoming Republican endorsed Kamala Harris and appeared on the trail with the vice president, calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy
Biden last year honored people who were involved in defending the Capitol from a mob of angry Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, or who helped safeguard the will of American voters during the 2020 presidential election, when Trump tried and failed to overturn the results.
The committee's final report asserted that Trump criminally engaged in a 'multi-part conspiracy' to overturn the lawful results of the election he lost to Biden and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. Thompson wrote that Trump 'lit that fire.'
Biden has been considering whether to offer preemptive pardons to Cheney and others Trump has targeted. Thompson also got a standing ovation.
During an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press,' the president-elect said that 'Cheney did something that´s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,' claiming without evidence they 'deleted and destroyed' testimony they collected.
Biden also awarded the medal to attorney Mary Bonauto, who fought to legalize same-sex marriage, and Evan Wolfson, a leader of the marriage equality movement.
Other honorees included Frank Butler, who set new standards for using tourniquets on war injuries; Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse during the Vietnam War who founded the Vietnam Women´s Memorial Foundation; and Eleanor Smeal, an activist who led women's rights protests in the 1970s and fought for equal pay.
He bestowed the honor to photographer Bobby Sager, academics Thomas Vallely and Paula Wallace, and Frances Visco, the president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Other former lawmakers honored included former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J.; former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, the first woman to represent Kansas; and former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who championed gun safety measures after her son and husband were shot to death.
After he presented the awards, he went back to the lectern to ask lawmakers in the room to stand, as well as John Kerry.
'Let's remember, our work continues,' he said to the room after he thanked the families in attendance for the support they gave to the nominees. We've got a lot more work to do to keep this going.'
Biden honored four people posthumously: Joseph Galloway, a former war correspondent who wrote about the first major battle in Vietnam in the book 'We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young'; civil rights advocate and attorney Louis Lorenzo Redding; former Delaware judge Collins Seitz; and Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, who was held with other Japanese Americans during World War II and challenged the detention.
The Presidential Citizens Medal was created by President Richard Nixon in 1969 and is the country´s second highest civilian honor after the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It recognizes people who 'performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.'
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