A snapshot of a terrifying moment in American history

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Just a few days before the 2024 general election, the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was interviewed by Tucker Carlson on the RSBN network (full disclosure: Tucker Carlson alas, graduated from the same college as me - different years) and mentioned (about an hour into the interview) that Liz Cheney, former US Representative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney is a problem he'd like to address:

"Let's put her there with a rifle, nine barrels shooting at her. Let's see how she feels about it when the guns are trained on her face." 

(Tucker Carlson chimed in with: "that'd be Dick Cheney's repulsive little daughter" in that same interview.) 

Donald Trump is a candidate for president of the United States, who during a televised interview, expressed the desire to shoot a political opponent - who happens to be a member of the same party as Trump, though she has been "purged" from any leadership roles in the party.) The New York Times covered this statement as a moment where the GOP candidate for president "assailed Liz Cheney, one of his most prominent Republican critics, in an end-of-campaign burst of vitriol on Thursday, saying she should be put on a battlefield “with nine barrels shooting at her face.” 

The NY Times also noted that "His language reflects the charged environment surrounding this year’s election." 

The Washington Post reported that "The former president’s campaign reacted by criticizing media coverage that interpreted his remark to imagine putting Cheney in front of a firing squad rather than sending her into combat."

The reality is that a US presidential candidate said he wanted a political opponent to face "nine barrels shooting at her." Trump's words do not "reflect the charged environment." They are the cause of it. Focusing on whether or not he meant a firing squad or sending her into a war zone is falling prey to GOP linguistic magic trick - it's a way to divert from the real problem. The real problem is that their candidate seeks violence as a means to punish his opponents. 

Remember that Liz Cheney voted in alignment with Trump 93% of the time. Remember that when Trump had the opportunity to fight for our country, he pretended that "bone spurs" made that impossible. 

The GOP's outrage about news media's false interpretation is manufactured outrage. But the news media's game of "both-sides'ing" controversies amplifies a ridiculous talking point. Presidents do not need to have battle experience - most presidents do not come to office with experience in war. 

In 2024, Trump wants Liz Cheney, banished from the party for her attempts to hold Trump accountable for inciting violence on 1/6/21, to have guns fired at her face. That is disqualifying in any candidate for office anywhere.


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