Gerald Ford foundation accused of not honoring Liz Cheney over Trump fears
Source: The Guardian
Wed 10 Apr 2024 12.30 EDT
Gerald Ford’s White House photographer resigned from the board of the 38th president’s eponymous foundation and alleged it refused to honor Liz Cheney, the anti-Trump former Republican congresswoman, for fear of reprisal should Donald Trump return to power next year.
The honor in question was the Gerald R Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Recent recipients include the former defense secretary Robert Gates; the late Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole and his wife, the former senator Elizabeth Dole; and the late secretary of state Colin Powell.
“A key reason Liz’s nomination was turned down was your agita about what might happen if the former president is re-elected,” David Kennerly, 77 and a Pulitzer-winning photographer, told the executive committee and board members of the Gerald R Ford Presidential Foundation in a letter reported by Politico. “Some of you raised the spectre of being attacked by the Internal Revenue Service and losing the foundation’s tax-exempt status as retribution for selecting Liz for the award.”
“The historical irony was completely lost on you. Gerald Ford became president [in 1974], in part, because Richard Nixon had ordered the development of an enemies list and demanded his underlings use the IRS against those listed. That’s exactly what the executive committee fears will happen if there’s a second coming of Donald Trump.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/10/liz-cheney-gerald-ford-foundation
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