Politics
Column: Presidential foundation was too scared to honor Liz Cheney, so he quit in disgust
Every year, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation bestows an award meant to honor acts of political courage. The criteria include strength of character, sound judgment, decisiveness (“particularly during periods of crisis”) and determination “in the face of adversity.”
David Hume Kennerly, a member of the foundation board, had in mind the perfect candidate: Liz Cheney.
The former Wyoming lawmaker sacrificed her political career and was effectively excommunicated from the Republican Party for defying President Trump and overseeing the congressional probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, as well as Trump’s treacherous attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“There was only one human on the planet who should have been getting that award,” Kennerly, who served as White House photographer during the Ford administration, said in an interview. “She checked every box.”
But the foundation’s executive committee ignored Kennerly’s recommendation and passed over Cheney — even after others declined the award — citing concerns that, as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, her selection could imperil the group’s tax-exempt status.
It’s a fig leaf so thin the merest whisper of a breeze wafts it away.
In truth, Kennerly said, the executive board feared retribution from the vengeful Trump should he return to the White House. Earlier this week, he resigned his board membership in protest.
“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 said in a five-page letter to the executive committee.
(Ford’s singular act of political courage was pardoning former President Nixon, hastening the country’s healing from the Watergate scandal though it quite possibly cost Ford the closely fought 1976 presidential election.)
“I can’t in good conscience stay on the board of an organization representing Gerald R. Ford that doesn’t manifest his kind of guts,” said Kennerly, who was personally close to the late president and his wife, Betty. “It’s now a place whose leadership is cowed by a demagogue creating and promulgating the greatest crisis our country has faced since the Civil War.”
Kennerly elaborated in the interview. His resignation was intended as a quiet act of protest, he said from his home in Los Angeles. But it became public almost immediately when someone — not he — leaked the letter to Politico.
“Any time you put something out there … ,” said Kennerly, his voice trailing off. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer has spent decades in and around politics, he said, so, “I’m not naive.”
During a half-hour conversation, Kennerly toggled between anger — “chickens—,” he called the board’s snub of Cheney — and concern that his actions not be misconstrued.
“This is not an easy thing. I don’t want this to appear to be dropping a B-52 strike on the Ford Foundation,” said Kennerly, whose searing images of the Vietnam War have become an indelible part of America’s historical record. “It’s more about the fear factor facing people in our country now. People are afraid to step up, and you can thank the former president for that.”
Kennerly’s protest, heartfelt as it may be, could easily be dismissed as the griping of someone who simply didn’t get his way. He described Cheney as one of his best friends and he is also close to her family.
But as someone steeped in history, who has witnessed politicians up close and cataloged courage and human failings in a way few have, Kennerly’s observations are worth noting.
The foundation board has dozens of trustees — Cheney among them — who offer nominations to a 12-member executive committee, which has the final say on each year’s winner of the Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service.
Kennerly first recommended Cheney for the award last fall. The executive board chose someone else — even though it was abundantly clear Cheney, who had been mentioned as a possible stop-Trump candidate, was not running for president.
That should have eliminated those putative concerns about the group’s tax status.
When that individual turned down the award, and then another, Kennerly again recommended Cheney. (He would not say who else was chosen and why they declined the honor.)
Instead, the executive board selected Indiana’s former governor, Mitch Daniels, and Kennerly quit soon after. (No knock on Daniels, he said.)
After Kennerly’s resignation became public, the executive director of the Ford Presidential Foundation, Gleaves Whitney, issued a statement citing fiduciary responsibility, tax issues, legal risk, blah blah, blah.
Those matters were apparently not a concern in 2004 when Dick Cheney, Liz’s father, received the Ford medal. At the time, he was running for reelection as vice president.
Upon further reflection — and after a day of scathingly negative publicity — Whitney issued a follow-up statement Wednesday night.
Cheney, he said, “meets all the criteria the Ford Presidential Foundation medal signifies — courage, integrity, and passion to serve the American people.”
“The Foundation’s decision … is not a reflection on her but on the law governing nonprofits,” Whitney said. “The Foundation’s action this year in no way precludes her from serious consideration to receive the medal in a future year.”
Kennerly’s response was curt: “Total cop-out.”
So as it stands, Cheney — with all those criteria going for her — maybe someday, after serious consideration, will be recognized with the Ford Medal for the vitally important service she rendered the country by exposing Trump and his mutinous acts.
At no small personal cost, it should be said.
For now, however, leaders of the foundation lack the courage to honor Cheney for performing her sterling act of courage.
It would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.
Politics
Warren tells Trump to ‘sign the damn bill’ as bipartisan housing package remains stalled in Washington
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., lashed out at President Donald Trump during a recent local television interview, labeling him a “man-child” throwing a “tantrum” over his refusal to sign a sweeping bipartisan housing package.
Appearing on WCVB’s “On the Record,” the left-wing senator did not hold back her frustration over the stalled legislation, delivering a blunt message to the president: “Sign the damn bill.”
“If he cared about the American people, he’d have already signed the damn thing,” Warren said during the interview, arguing that Trump “does not care about the economic survival of America’s working families.”
FILE – The Senate previously advanced the massive housing package geared toward lowering the costs of homes and supercharging the housing supply. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pitched it as legislation to prevent America from becoming a “nation of renters.” (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Protect Borrowers ; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
TRUMP-BACKED HOUSING BILL CLEARS HOUSE AFTER GOP DEFIES SENATE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is an expansive bipartisan package that she said contains nearly 50 provisions designed to address the nationwide housing emergency.
Warren noted that decades of under-building have driven prices up, leaving the U.S. in need of millions of new units.
The primary focus of the bill is to lower the costs of construction and make it easier to build new homes.
FILE – President Donald Trump previously said lawmakers must first approve the SAVE America Act before he moves forward with the housing package. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg)
BIPARTISAN HOUSING PUSH ADVANCES, BUT TRUMP-BACKED INVESTOR BAN FACES RESISTANCE
The bill, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also includes a secondary focus aimed at blocking corporate consolidation of the housing market.
Warren explained that the legislation is designed to keep private equity firms from buying up local neighborhoods and turning America “into a nation of renters.”
According to Warren, the legislation had widespread support from both sides of the aisle before it was stalled.
TRUMP VOWS BLOCK ON SIGNING NEW LAWS UNTIL SAVE AMERICA ACT PASSES SENATE
She claimed the bill was “handed to the president on a silver platter” and that lawmakers from both parties were eagerly taking credit for the legislation.
“Republicans were all going online, saying, ‘well, I helped write that bill. This bill is terrific,’” Warren said. “So everybody’s out there saying, ‘my bill, I helped make this happen,’ right up until the man-child has a tantrum and announces he will not be signing it.”
FILE – Sen. Elizabeth Warren called President Donald Trump a “man-child” during the interview, describing his refusal to sign the bill as a “tantrum.” (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Critics of the legislation claim it does not allocate fresh federal funding, directly address rising costs of homeownership, or go far enough to address permitting issues.
The president previously canceled a scheduled signing event, insisting lawmakers must first approve the unrelated SAVE America Act, a voting-focused measure, before he moves forward.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.
Veteran MS NOW anchor Alex Witt is leaving the news network, which is moving away from live evening programming on weekends.
The new weekend programming strategy announced Friday is a cost-saving measure that will give parent company Versant more resources for a new direct-to-consumer streaming offering that makes MS NOW available to consumers without a pay-TV subscription. The company is also looking to expand its live event business.
According to a memo from MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler, “The Weekend: Primetime,” a live discussion program launched last year, will have its final airing Saturday.
One of the program’s co-hosts, Antonia Hylton, will take over Witt’s midday shifts later this year. Hylton’s co-hosts Ayman Mohyeldin, Catherine Rampell and Elise Jordan will remain with MS NOW and continue to appear on other programs.
Kutler said job losses from the moves are minimal and encouraged staffers who lose their current roles to apply for 40 current job openings at the company with more on the way. MS NOW has been staffing up its news operation since separating from NBC News last year.
MS NOW changed its name from MSNBC in November. The network, along with other Comcast-owned cable channels, were spun off into Versant in January.
Weekends have long been a ratings weak spot for MS NOW, which while a distant second to Fox News, has seen audience growth in 2026 and remains ahead of CNN. The network has started to rely on podcasts such as “Pod Save America,” from Crooked Media, to fill some hours. The episodes have performed strongly enough for MS NOW to try similar deals with outside podcast producers.
“Throughout the summer, we will expand our taped strategy and announce new content partnerships,” Kutler said in her memo.
With the changes, MS NOW will still have 20 hours of live programming each weekend and will be staffed to handle breaking news.
Witt joined the network formerly known as MSNBC in 1999, long before it began its strong tilt toward progressive political commentary. Over the years, Witt’s weekend newscast became one of the few programs on the network that delivered straight news without opinion.
Kutler called Witt “a beloved longtime member of our MS NOW family” and “a continued, trusted, and steady presence for our audiences.”
While Witt works through the summer, Hylton will anchor the 11 a.m. weekday time period, which will eventually be handled by former NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander.
Politics
McCarthy says Trump will use ‘everything he can’ to force Senate action on SAVE America Act
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As infighting over the SAVE America Act throws congressional Republicans into disarray, President Donald Trump’s bid to get the stalled election bill across the finish line gained one notable ally.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital that he supports the election integrity measure and indicated that Trump should continue to use every available tool to pressure the Senate to pass it.
“He’s going to try everything he can to make sure he passes that through,” McCarthy said in a brief interview outside the U.S. Capitol.
The ex-speaker’s comments came after Trump abruptly called off a signing ceremony Wednesday for a bipartisan housing bill to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to act on the SAVE America Act.
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pa., on June 23, 2026. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
IRATE REPUBLICANS ACCUSE TRUMP OF HANDING DEMOCRATS A WIN AFTER BLOWING UP HOUSING PACKAGE
The move surprised Republican lawmakers, some of whom were praising the bill’s passage at a press conference when Trump’s Truth Social post broke.
But Trump has repeatedly cast the election measure — requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and voter identification requirements — as his top legislative priority.
The legislation’s momentum, however, has slowed in the upper chamber, where Republican leadership insists the votes aren’t there amid widespread Democratic opposition. Senate Republicans have also been unwilling to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to pass the legislation.
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during a ceremony honoring President Ronald Reagan on the 115th anniversary of his birthday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Feb. 6, 2026. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group)
TRUMP CALLS MAIL IN VOTING CORRUPT AS SENATE BEGINS DEBATE ON SAVE ACT REQUIRING VOTER ID
Amid the SAVE standoff, a group of conservative lawmakers effectively shut down the House floor in an effort to force Senate action on the election bill.
But the Senate recessed Wednesday for two weeks over the July 4 holiday, leaving the measure in limbo until lawmakers return.
The conservative-led blockade sparked fierce backlash, with several members inside the GOP conference telling Fox News Digital the move risked torpedoing their own legislative agenda.
Meanwhile, the House has also yet to pass a version of the legislation incorporating several of the president’s priorities, including a mail-in voting crackdown and provisions banning men from competing in women’s sports and child sex change procedures.
Trump has not indicated whether he will sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, despite the likely existence of a veto-proof majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday that the housing bill had been transmitted to the White House for Trump’s signature following a meeting with the president.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol on June 10, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Trump now has 10 days to sign the package or veto it. If he does nothing, the legislation automatically becomes law at the end of the 10-day period.
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