Daniel Penny joins Trump and Vance in the Army-Navy battle

In the space of six days, subway guard Daniel Penny has gone from sweating a future prison cell to hanging out with the president-elect in a luxury suite.

The Navy vet received a hero’s welcome Saturday when he joined soon-to-be Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the annual Army-Navy football game.

Penny, who was acquitted by a Manhattan jury Monday in the death of NYC subway rider Jordan Neely, was Vance’s personal guest to attend the heated feud in the president-elect’s suite at Northwest Stadium in Landover, MD.

Others joining the fray included Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Intelligence Director nominee Tulsi Gabbard, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and billionaire Elon Musk.

Before kickoff, Penny was seen in the luxury suite chatting with Vance, the future veep’s wife

“Daniel is a good guy and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance wrote on X Friday, also referring to far-left Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“I am grateful that he accepted my invitation and hope that he is able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”

Vance invited the 26-year-old Long Islander to the game at the Washington Commanders’ 65,000-seat home, while texting Penny’s lead attorney, Thomas Kenniff, to congratulate them on the verdict.

“We were all shocked,” Kenniff told The Post on Friday. “Danny’s first reaction was that, “There are a lot of veterans who are more deserving than me.” (Attorney) Steve Raiser and I responded that you don’t say no to the next Vice President of the United States.”

“Danny is looking forward to participating,” added Kenniff.

Jurors acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide — which carries a penalty of up to four years behind bars — after a monthlong trial stemming from his fatal May 2023 encounter with the troubled Neely on a downtown F train.

The verdict came days after a more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed by prosecutors after the 12 jurors – seven women and five men – were deadlocked.

The lightning rod case has sparked fierce nationwide debate and political division about mental illness, crime, vigilantism and race.

Vance and many other conservative Poles have publicly hailed the verdict while blasting Bragg for giving Penny an indictment.

But many left-wing politicians have ripped Neely’s death as an unnecessary act of vigilante violence, including state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn), who claimed the 30-year-old homeless man was “lynched” and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (DN.Y), who claimed Neely was “murdered.”

Others, including Mayor Eric Adams, argued the case highlighted a broken system that failed Neely and others suffering from mental health issues or drug addiction. Adams has said he “respect(s)” the jury’s decision, but has declined to say whether he agrees with it.

Trump has not referred to the case publicly recently, but a source familiar with the situation said he was heavily invested in the case, constantly asking for updates during the trial. Penny and Trump even talked one night while the jury was deliberating, the source added.

Throughout the trial, Bragg’s prosecutors relentlessly hammered the race card in front of jurors, routinely calling Perry “the white man” and attributing racist motives to his actions — even as witness after witness confirmed that nearly everyone on the subway car was horrified by the 30-year-old. -old Neely’s behavior.

Neely — who was schizophrenic and had synthetic marijuana in her system — was acting erratically, screaming “I’m ready to die” while throwing trash at passengers and saying he wanted to kill someone, witnesses testified.

Penny put him in a chokehold for several minutes while the train was running, and officers who responded to the scene said Neely had a weak pulse when they arrived but died shortly after.

Neely had also previously been convicted of assaulting people in subway stations.

With Army, champions of the American Athletic Conference, with an 11-1 record, and Navy at 8-3, Penny got to see one of the series’ more highly anticipated matchups in decades.

Both teams re-emerged as nationally relevant college football programs this year and are headed to bowl games later this month.

Heading into Saturday’s contest, Navy led the series 62-55 with seven games tied. The series has been played annually since 1930 and dates back to 1890.