Former President Trump on Friday responded to criticism of his comments a day earlier, in which he attacked former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) by using violent imagery to chastise her foreign policy views.
Trump sparked backlash after he told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Cheney, an outspoken critic of the former president, was a “radical war hawk” and suggested she should be put into a war zone “with nine barrels shooting at her.”
The former president sought to clarify those comments in a Truth Social post.
“All I’m saying about Liz Cheney is that she is a War Hawk, and a dumb one at that, but she wouldn’t have ‘the guts’ to fight herself,” Trump posted. “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!'”
“Her father decimated the Middle East, and other places, and got rich by doing so. He’s caused plenty of DEATH, and probably never even gave it a thought,” Trump continued, referring to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has endorsed Vice President Harris in the 2024 election.
Trump’s critics lambasted him over his rhetoric toward Cheney, who has campaigned alongside Harris ahead of Election Day.
“This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death,” Cheney posted on X.
Ian Sams, senior adviser for the Vice President Harris’s campaign, slammed Trump for “dangerous, violent rhetoric.”
“You have Donald Trump, who’s talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad. And you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to her Cabinet,” Sams said Friday morning on MSNBC.