MADISON, Wis. — Vice President Harris said on Friday that violent language and insults that Former President Donald Trump used about former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney should disqualify him from holding the highest office in the country again.
Trump late Thursday described Cheney as a “radical war hawk” during an onstage conversation with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in Glendale, Ariz. Cheney, who was one of only two Republicans on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot, is Harris' most prominent Republican supporter.
"Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her," Trump said to Carlson. "Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face."
"You know they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, 'Oh, gee, let's send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy,'" Trump said.
Harris told reporters that Trump had suggested rifles should be trained on Cheney. "This must be disqualifying," she said, describing Cheney as "tough" and "courageous" for taking a stand against Trump.
"Anyone who wants to be president of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president.
On Friday, Cheney said Trump's comments demonstrate why she is supporting Harris instead of him.
Trump's campaign says the outrage over his comment is a 'hoax'
Trump’s campaign called the controversy over the remarks a "hoax" saying Trump was "clearly describing a combat zone" in his remarks — not suggesting that Cheney be put in front of a firing squad.
Trump had explained in his remarks that "warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight them with no regard for the lives lost," his campaign said.
Trump has frequently talked about revenge and grievances on the campaign trail, describing domestic opponents as "the enemy from within" and suggesting that the military could step in to handle disruptions from his political opponents.
He has previously said that Cheney was guilty of treason and should be put in jail.
Trump campaigned in Dearborn, Mich., on Friday, a city with a large Arab American population. He reminded supporters that Cheney's father — former Vice President Dick Cheney — had sent Americans to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"They want to get the Arab American vote. They want to get the Muslim votes. So she picks Liz Cheney, whose father virtually destroyed the Middle East," Trump said at a rally in Macomb County. "I don't think it's working out too well."
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NPR's Franco Ordonez and Stephen Fowler contributed to this report.
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