ARIZONA NEWS

Arizona AG’s office investigating whether Trump’s Liz Cheney comments broke the law

Nov 1, 2024, 1:45 PM | Updated: 2:09 pm

YouTube video

PHOENIX — The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether comments Donald Trump made against Liz Cheney at an event in Glendale on Thursday night broke the law.

Trump suggested that Cheney, one of his most prominent Republican critics, should have rifles “shooting at her” to see how she feels about sending troops to fight. Cheney responded by branding the GOP presidential nominee a “cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”

“The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is looking into whether Donald Trump’s comments about Liz Cheney violated Arizona law,” the office said in a statement Friday.

The Republican presidential candidate has been using increasingly threatening rhetoric against his adversaries and talked of “enemies from within” undermining the country. Some of his former senior aides and Vice President Kamala Harris have labeled him a fascist in response.

Trump has also long blamed Cheney and her father, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, for promoting U.S. military interventions abroad — including the war in Iraq — and argued that he started no foreign wars during his presidency.

He has ramped up his critiques of the Cheneys in swing state Michigan, where he is competing with Harris for the votes of Arab Americans opposed to U.S. backing of Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and its subsequent invasion of Lebanon.

At an event late Thursday in Arizona with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump was asked whether it was strange to see Cheney campaign against him. The former Wyoming congresswoman has vocally opposed Trump since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris, joining the vice president at recent stops as they try to win over Republicans disaffected with Trump.

Trump called Cheney “a deranged person” and added, “But the reason she couldn’t stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. If it were up to her we’d be in 50 different countries.”

The former president continued: “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with the rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK, 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, well, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy,” Trump said.

How Liz Cheney responded to comments by Donald Trump

Cheney responded Friday in a post on X: “This is how dictators destroy free nations. 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.”

One prominent Trump critic, former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, argued the former president’s comment had been taken out of context and that Trump was “NOT calling for Liz Cheney to be executed in front of a firing line.”

“In Trump’s typically stupid, ugly fashion, he’s trying to make a point about Cheney’s stance on war,” Walsh said on X.

Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, suggested that Trump was “talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad, and you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to her Cabinet. This is the difference in this race.”

But Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the president was making a point about Cheney’s foreign policy record and was being taken out of context.

“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,” she said in an emailed statement. “This is the continuation of the latest fake media outrage days before the election in a blatant attempt to interfere on behalf of Kamala Harris.”

Throughout his campaign, Trump has been fixated on the Americans he believes have wronged or betrayed him. He has portrayed them as worse than the United States’ foreign adversaries, referring to them as “enemies from within.”

He’s threatened to use the federal government, including the military, to go after them. And he has repeatedly threatened “long term prison sentences” for those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, including political operatives, donors and elected officials.

He said people he labeled as “the enemy from within” should be “very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”

Some of Trump’s supporters have said his talk of vengeance is either justified or hyperbole.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

Arizona News

An elderly woman died after getting hit by a vehicle on Bell Road in north Phoenix on Dec. 1, 2024....

KTAR.com

Elderly woman struck and killed after light changed while she crossed Phoenix street

An elderly woman was struck and killed after the light changed while she was crossing a north Phoenix street on Sunday night, authorities said.

27 minutes ago

shooting involving police in north Phoenix...

KTAR.com

Suspect injured in shooting involving police in north Phoenix

A suspect was injured in a shooting involving police in north Phoenix on Monday night, authorities said.

1 hour ago

Around 425 families will get help affording home improvement projects that will improve their quali...

Serena O'Sullivan

Maricopa County invests $500,000 to help lower income families with home improvement lending

Maricopa County officials will give $500,000 to a nonprofit that helps low- and moderate-income residents pay for home improvement projects.

2 hours ago

Phoenix temperatures...

Kevin Stone

Phoenix-area temperatures expected to stay above normal this week, possibly break record

It’s the time of year when above-normal metro Phoenix temperatures are nothing to get too heated about.

3 hours ago

Heritage Park is a 10-acre mixed-used development in downtown Gilbert....

Kevin Stone

Heritage Park development in downtown Gilbert signs restaurant group as 1st tenant

Heritage Park, the highly anticipated mixed-use development in downtown Gilbert, has its first tenant: a Nebraska-based restaurant group.

3 hours ago

An 8-year-old boy died on Thanksgiving Day after being seriously injured from a statue that fell on...

KTAR.com

Child dies after statue falls on him at Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix

An 8-year-old boy died on Thanksgiving Day after being seriously injured from a statue that fell on him Wednesday morning at the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix.

12 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

The UPS Store

How The UPS Store is giving back to the community

PHOENIX -- As 2024 nears a close, The UPS Store is looking to give back to the Arizona community with the holiday season approaching.

...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford’s Operation Santa Claus: Spreading holiday cheer through pickleball

Phoenix, AZ – Sanderson Ford, a staple in the Arizona community, is once again gearing up for its annual Operation Santa Claus charity drive.

...

DISC Desert Institute for Spine Care

The best methods to make your back pain disappear for good

Are you struggling with back pain that will not go away?

Arizona AG’s office investigating whether Trump’s Liz Cheney comments broke the law