By james art GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Donald Trump suggests former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of his most prominent Republican critics, should have guns “shot at her” to see how she feels about sending troops to are fighting It was his last suggestion that his rivals should be subjected to violence.
Cheney responded by calling the Republican presidential nominee “a cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”
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The Republican presidential candidate has used increasingly threatening rhetoric against his opponents and has spoken of “enemies from within” undermining the country. Some of his former senior aides and Vice President Kamala Harris called him a fascist in response.
At an event late Thursday in Arizona with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump was asked if it was strange to see Cheney campaigning against him. The former Wyoming congresswoman has vocally opposed Trump since the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris, joining the vice president in recent stops as they try to win over Republicans unhappy with Trump.
Trump called Cheney a “crazy man” and added: “But the reason she couldn’t stand me is she always wanted to go to war with people. If it were up to her, we’d be in 50 different countries.
The former president continued: “She is a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with the shotgun standing there with nine barrels firing at her. Well, let’s see how she feels. You know, when the guns are pointed at her face.
“You know they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building and they’re saying, gosh, okay, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy,” Trump said.
Cheney responded Friday in an X post: “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten with death those who speak against them. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.
Earlier, after Harris’ campaign and other Trump critics on social media pounced on his comment, Trump’s campaign said he was “talking about how Liz Cheney wants to send America’s sons and daughters to fight in wars , although she herself has never fought in a war’.
In another statement, his campaign said Trump was “clearly describing a war zone.”
The campaign said his comments were about his message that Harris and Cheney will lead to war and young people will die in conflict. He claimed that if re-elected president, he would “prevent World War III” and falsely claimed that Harris had talked about reinstating the military service.
But Trump’s comments, which appeared to suggest Cheney would face a firing squad, drew alarm from his critics.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has been focused on Americans he feels have wronged or betrayed him. He describes them as worse than the external adversaries of the United States, calling them “enemies within.”
He has threatened to use the federal government, including the military, to prosecute them. And he has repeatedly threatened “long prison terms” for those “engaged in unscrupulous conduct” in this election, including political operatives, donors and elected officials.
He said the people he called the “enemy within” should be “very easily controlled by, if necessary, the National Guard or, if indeed necessary, the military.”
Some of Trump’s supporters said his talk of revenge was either justified or exaggerated.