Donald Trump has suggested that former GOP congresswoman Liz Cheney should be put in front of a line of rifles, as the Republican nominee’s rhetoric draws increasing criticisms ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election.
Trump used a town hall event with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in Arizona on Thursday night to attack one of his most outspoken critics in his own party.
Mr. Trump’s invoking of violence intensified his dispute with one of the most prominent political families in the nation and drew criticism from leaders of both parties.
Mr. Trump criticized and insulted Ms. Cheney
— a former congresswoman and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney – during an onstage interview with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host.
He said Ms Cheney — the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney — was a war hawk and “very dumb”.
“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK?” Trump said at the event in Glendale.
“Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
Trump had been railing about politicians escalating armed conflicts or starting new ones “when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building”.
On Friday morning, Ms Cheney took to social media to describe the former president as a “vindictive, cruel and unstable man”.
“This is how dictators destroy free nations,” she wrote on X.
“They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”
Cheney responded in a post on X on Friday, adding “#Womenwillnotbesi-lenced.”
Trump on Friday clarified the attack on his Truth social media platform, saying Cheney would not have “the guts” to fight in a war.
“It’s easy for her to talk, sitting far from where the death scenes take place, but put a gun in her hand, and let her go fight, and she’ll say, ‘No thanks!’,” he wrote.
Ms Cheney, who was a congresswoman for Wyoming between 2017 and 2023 and served as chair of the House Republican Conference, has been a prominent Trump critic, endorsing his rival Kamala Harris and even campaigning for the Democratic nominee.
Ms Cheney has given stump speeches in support of Ms Harris — the current US vice-president — in several locations where there are concentrations of suburban GOP women on electoral rolls.
One of the most high-profile Republicans to turn against Trump, Cheney has endorsed Harris in the November 5 election, saying she crossed party lines to put the country before politics and calling Trump a
“danger”
Once one of the party’s top leaders in the
US House of Representatives, Cheney lost her seat in Congress after backing Trump’s second impeachment for his role in his supporters’ January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol and then helping to lead the investigation into the attack.
In recent weeks, Cheney has campaigned with Harris, including in Michigan, a crucial battleground state with large Arab and Muslim populations who the Democrats are trying to win over.
Her father has long been pilloried by Democrats for his central role in pushing for
– and executing – the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 on grounds that turned out to be fake. Cheney has embraced her father’s neoconservative legacy throughout her ca-reer, leading to questions where Cheney’s support could help Harris win votes in the knife-edge race or end up hurting her prospects.
Multiple polls have pointed to Ms Harris being more popular among women voters, and analysts argue Ms Cheney is trying to exploit the gender divide to make sure Trump does not return to the White House.
Trump is often criticised for his statements about women — made over decades in both public and private settings — which have been described as everything from “inappropriate” to “highly offensive” and “unhinged”.
At a campaign event this week in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the 78-year-old said he was determined to protect women “whether they like it or not”.
He was last year found guilty in a civil case of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s, in a lawsuit he claimed had been a “scam”.
Speaking before a flight to Wisconsin on Friday, Ms Harris said her rival’s language meant he was “unqualified to be president”.
“His enemies list has grown longer. His rhetoric has grown more extreme, and he is even less focused than before on the needs and the concerns and the challenges facing the American people.”
Speaking on CNN, Tom Corbett, a former Republican governor in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, also denounced Trump’s comments about Ms Cheney, saying they had “shocked” him.
“When you see actions like that, you certainly have to question the ability of someone to function in the role of president,” Mr Corbett said.
Peoplesmind
