Arizona AG investigating Trump’s comments about Cheney being a ‘war hawk’ if ‘guns are trained on her’ as a death threat
Arizona's top prosecutor is investigating former President Donald Trump after he said Liz Cheney wouldn't be a "war hawk" if "guns are trained on her face," during a visit to the Phoenix area Thursday.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, told a local TV station that Trump's comments may have violated state law against death threats, raising concerns among Republicans over free speech.
"I have already asked my criminal division chief to start looking at that statement, analyzing it for whether it qualifies as a death threat under Arizona's laws," Mayes told 12News .
Trump's comments came during an appearance with Tucker Carlson in Glendale on Thursday. He criticized Cheney over her stance on foreign policy, calling her a "war hawk" and suggested her position would change if she were the one going to war.
"They're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, 'Oh gee, let's send 10,000 troops into the mouths of the enemies.' She always wanted to go to war with people," Trump said .
"She's a radical war hawk," he continued. "Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face."
After an outcry from Democrats and the media, the Trump campaign released a statement saying Trump's comments were misinterpreted. "President Trump is 100% correct that warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight them, rather than go into combat themselves," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a close Trump ally, denounced the Arizona attorney general's investigation. "The culture of lawfare — largely contained to one party at this point — must stop," he wrote in a social media post. "If it doesn't stop now, it never will."
Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, said that Trump's comments show he is "unstable." "This is how dictators destroy free nations," she posted on social media. "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."
During a press gaggle Friday in Wisconsin, Harris told reporters Trump's comments should be "disqualifying."
"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," she said .
Trump, who has survived two attempted assassinations over the past four months, has repeatedly blamed Democrats' rhetoric. "Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out," Trump said in September.
In recent weeks, Harris called Trump a fascist, former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said Trump was "more dangerous" than Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and Harris and some members of the media have repeatedly argued that Trump is a "threat to democracy."
