Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump’s remarks about former Rep. Liz Cheney should disqualify from returning to the Oval Office.
Ms. Harris said Friday that Mr. Trump’s comments are a sign that the GOP nominee has “increased his violent rhetoric.”
“This must be disqualifying,” Ms. Harris said. “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.”
In a conversation with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday night, Mr. Trump blasted Ms. Cheney, a former Wyoming lawmaker who has a long-running feud with Mr. Trump and has endorsed Ms. Harris.
“She’s a radical war hawk,” Mr. Trump said. “Let’s put her with a 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, we’ll, let’s send — let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mount of the enemy.”
Democrats immediately condemned Mr. Trump’s remarks, claiming he was suggesting shooting one of his fiercest critics. The Trump campaign has insisted he was talking about Ms. Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, regarding his role in the Iraq War.
Ms. Harris said that she has not spoken with Ms. Cheney since Mr. Trump’s comments, but said she is “tough” and “incredibly courageous.”
“Representative Cheney is a true patriot who has shown extraordinary courage in putting country above party,” the vice president said. “Trump is increasingly, however, someone who considers his political opponents the enemy, is permanently out for revenge and is increasingly unstable and unhinged.”
She also said that Mr. Trump’s comment has the potential to affect U.S. standing on the world stage because leaders should not be talking about retribution for those who disagree with them.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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