By james art Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out at former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, criticizing her past support for military action and saying she should face “nine doulas shooting at her” as a result. his latest advocacy of violence against his rivals.
“She’s a radical war hawk – let’s put her in there with a rifle and nine barrels shooting at her, shall we? And let’s see how she feels, you know, when guns are pointed in her face,” the former president and convicted felon said during an event in Glendale, Arizona, which was moderated by commentator Tucker Carlson.
Cheney, a former member from Wyoming and one-time chairman of the House GOP conference, served as vice chairman of the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. Most recently, Cheney endorsed and campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
One of the few Republicans in Congress to ever criticize Trump, Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, didn’t hold back in her response, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death,” Cheney wrote. “We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”
Trump, who a New York jury found guilty of sexual assault last year, and his surrogates have criticized Democrats for similar descriptions of him, blaming them for two failed assassination attempts and escalating violent rhetoric.
But Trump has repeatedly suggested and outright called for violence against his political enemies, including encouraging supporters at rallies to “beat the crap out” of protesters.
In recent weeks, he has floated the idea that, if re-elected, he would send federal law enforcement and active-duty US military units to arrest some of his political and legal enemies, including California Democrat Adam B. Schiff, Trump’s former impeachment manager. who is on track to easily win a seat in the Senate.
The former president also attacked former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, his top military adviser, saying he should be charged with treason and executed.
In a September 2023 social media post, Trump took offense to Milley’s phone call with senior Chinese officials after the January 6 uprising to reassure them that the US was stable. “This is such an egregious act that in times past the penalty would have been DEATH!” Trump wrote in September 2023 to Milley.
Milley, who was still chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told CBS News at the time in response to Trump’s call for his execution that “I am a soldier,” adding, “I have been true and loyal to the Constitution of the United States 44 -a -half years and my family and I have sacrificed a lot for this country, my mother and my father before them.
“And you know, as much as these comments are directed at me, they are also directed at the military establishment and there are 2.1 million of us in uniform and the American people can take it to the bank that all of us, every single one of us , from private to general, was loyal to that constitution,” Milley said.
Milley also claims that there were “zero” inappropriate or treasonous things said during that January 2021 conversation with Chinese officials.
But in a sobering revelation, the country’s top military official at the time said he had been forced to beef up his security.
“I have adequate precautions,” he told CBS. “I wish those comments hadn’t been made. But they were. And will take appropriate measures to ensure my safety and the safety of my family.
Harris was on the campaign trail Thursday, repeating his warnings that another Trump term would undermine the country’s democratic principles and institutions. Her campaign has been tight-lipped in response to his call for Cheney’s execution.
“Donald Trump is so consumed with his grievances that he treats people with whom he disagrees and who he perceives to oppose him politically as enemies. He’s spent the last month talking about an ‘enemy from within’ in the United States,” said Ian Sams, a senior campaign adviser and spokesman.
“And now he’s going after Liz Cheney with this dangerous, violent rhetoric. I mean, think about the contrast between these two candidates,” Sams added. “You have Donald Trump talking about sending a prominent Republican to be shot, and you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to her office. That’s the difference in this race.”