Former President Donald J. Trump blasted a prominent Republican critic who condemned American engagement in international conflicts during an onstage interview with Tucker Carlson in Arizona.
Former President Donald J. Trump criticized Liz Cheney, one of his most vocal Republican detractors, at his final campaign event in Arizona on Thursday night. He also used threatening imagery to suggest that she should be put in the line of fire.
Ms. Cheney, who is campaigning alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, was the target of personal attacks from Mr. Trump during an onstage interview with Tucker Carlson, a prominent Trump ally and former Fox News anchor. Then, criticizing her foreign policy strategy, he proposed that she be placed in a conflict zone.
In front of thousands of people at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, Mr. Trump declared, “She is a radical war hawk.” “All right, let’s have her standing there with a rifle pointing nine barrels at her. Let’s see what she thinks of it. When the weapons are aimed at her face, you know.
He went on to say that he detested Washingtonians who supported American involvement in foreign wars. “You know, when they sit in a nice building in Washington and say, ‘Oh, gee, well, let’s send, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the enemy’s mouth,’ they’re all war hawks.”
In response, Ms. Cheney wrote on X on Friday morning: “This is how dictators destroy free nations.”
Mr. Trump’s deadly scenario came as he has been using more ominous and occasionally menacing language toward his political rivals lately. The former president once again alluded to a dangerous “enemy within” that required attention on Thursday. His false claim that he won the 2020 election prompted some of his fans to attack the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In the past, he has referred to his adversaries as “vermin” that must be eradicated. (The House committee that looked into Mr. Trump’s involvement in the Capitol incident had Ms. Cheney as its top Republican.)
The tense atmosphere surrounding this year’s election is reflected in his words. Democrats and some Republicans have been warning more and more that Mr. Trump has authoritarian tendencies; Ms. Harris recently called him a “fascist.” While disregarding the fact that Mr. Trump has long used similar rhetoric to characterize Democrats, he and his supporters have claimed that such language has contributed to an overheated political environment that has resulted in political violence.