lionize

In death, however, Carter is being lionized by Republican leaders as well as Democrats upon his return to Washington to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda before his state funeral Thursday.

Kavanaugh denied the allegations and, thanks to Trump and the Senate’s Republican majority, he was lionized on the right as a victim of a movement run amok.

His role in the impeachment lionized him among fellow Democrats, demonized him among Republicans and seeded his campaign for the Senate.

It's nice for people to support you, don't get me wrong, but we can't lionize people being in prison.

Things get messy when we start lionizing anyone, perhaps especially young men who were just good at playing a child’s game.