Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly on Thursday defended former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., after he resigned from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation over its refusal to believe her for its Medal for Distinguished Public Service — a snub he claims was pushed by way of the likelihood of former President Donald Trump successful this yr’s presidential election.
In his letter of resignation from the Ford Foundation board as a trustee, Kennerly argued that Cheney, a vocal opponent of Trump’s, was rejected more than one occasions for the top award out of worry of retribution from Trump if he wins re-election.
“If the foundation that bears the name of Gerald R. Ford won’t stand up to this real threat to our democracy, who will?” Kennerly wrote in his letter, relating to a imaginable 2nd presidential time period for Trump.
During a Thursday interview on “Morning Joe,” Kennerly stated one of the few other people status as much as Trump is Cheney, arguing that she’s “the only person on this planet” who must have gained the Ford Foundation’s top award.
“They’re putting out statements from the board about how the they had to not give her the award because it would threaten their tax status,” he stated. “And that’s just, you know, going down the legal rabbit hole.”
Kennerly, who was Ford’s White House photographer, stated he has issues in regards to the hang that Trump has on the Republican Party and referred to as Cheney a “bright shining light” who has confronted dying threats for refusing to head along side the previous president’s baseless claims of a stolen election.
“The foundation, which I’ve been on for a couple decades, is not stepping up with her. They’re giving all these excuses now,” he stated.
Kennerly famous that even if Cheney has now not introduced a presidential marketing campaign, the foundation asserted it might now not give the top award to Cheney as a result of it could threaten the crowd’s tax standing, bringing up her previous remarks elevating the likelihood of a presidential bid. He additionally discussed that her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who labored as Ford’s leader of group of workers, won the award in 2004 when he was a candidate for vice chairman.
“So maybe he should give that award back to them for fear that they might lose their status,” Kennerly stated.
Kennerly stated that the verdict to snub Cheney for the top award was made by way of the manager committee of the foundation’s board, now not the overall board that he was a member of. He stated he had “strongly suggested” Cheney for the award, however the committee was now not receptive as a result of she had raised the likelihood of a presidential bid.
“They’re just being petty and fearful like so many people in the country,” he stated. “And you gotta listen to Liz [Cheney]. She’s out there getting big crowds all around the country of Democrats and Republicans to hear her message, which is to keep Donald Trump away from the Oval Office. That’s the only award she wants, is to see him put out to pasture.”
In a commentary, the foundation’s government director, Gleaves Whitney, stated the verdict to not give the award to Cheney “is not a reflection on her but on the law governing nonprofits.”
The team’s government committee, “guided by its legal counsel, concluded that it was not prudent to award the 2024 Ford medal to Liz Cheney,” the commentary persevered. “At the time the award was being discussed, it was publicly reported that Liz was under active consideration for a presidential run. Exercising its fiduciary responsibility, the executive committee concluded that giving the Ford medal to Liz in the 2024 election cycle might be construed as a political statement and thus expose the Foundation to the legal risk of losing its nonprofit status with the Internal Revenue Service.”
The commentary additionally famous that Cheney sits on the foundation’s board of trustees and added that she “meets all the criteria the Ford Presidential Foundation medal signifies — courage, integrity, and passion to serve the American people.”
“The Foundation’s action this year in no way precludes her from serious consideration to receive the medal in a future year,” it stated.
Trump marketing campaign spokesman Steven Cheung stated in a commentary that Cheney “and her cronies are more concerned about her own personal awards than they are about the direction of this country.”
Cheney confronted backlash inside the Republican Party after she emerged as a vocal critic of Trump within the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault amid the previous president’s refusal to concede his loss to Joe Biden. She served as vice chair of the House Jan. 6 committee and was a few of the few Republicans who voted to question Trump in 2021. She was ousted from her No. 3 post in House GOP management and misplaced her re-election bid in 2022 to Trump-endorsed number one challenger Harriet Hageman.