“When the gun was pointed at her face”

In the final stages of the US presidential campaign, Republican Donald Trump has caused a stir by spreading violent fantasies about one of his biggest critics. At a campaign event in Arizona, Trump talked about having his party rival Liz Cheney inspect nine firing “rifle barrels” during a firefight. The Republican presidential candidate argued that Cheney himself was quick to find solutions to combat conflicts, so he wanted to experience the use of weapons in combat for himself.

Trump opponent Liz Cheney.Image: trapezoid

Familiar patterns in sticky situations

Trump is known for insulting, mocking and verbally attacking political opponents. He often uses hateful language and is a master of ambiguity aimed at deliberately causing confusion — for example, making comments glorifying violence and then denying any border crossing. The announcement about Cheney, just days before Tuesday's presidential election, was remarkable even by Cheney standards.

What's more, people were already very worried about the possibility of political violence in the election. Trump himself was the victim of an assassination attempt during the campaign and suffered minor injuries. The atmosphere in the United States is extremely tense.

Former Republican Rep. Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is one of Trump's harshest critics in her party. Her resistance to the former president led to her re-election to the House of Representatives in 2022, as Trump vigorously opposed her during the campaign and used various tactics. Cheney has not eased up on her criticism since then, but now supports Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the campaign and has made numerous appearances with her.

“When the gun was pointed at her face”

During an appearance in Glendale, Arizona, Trump called Cheney a “radical warmonger” and then suggested putting her in a situation where she “stands with a gun and nine barrels fire at her.” He then continued: “Let's see how she feels when a gun is pointed in her face.” Trump continued, “When politicians like them sit in beautiful buildings in Washington and decide to put 10,000 troops in into the mouths of the enemy,” they are warmongers.

Liz Cheney shared an excerpt from the video on the X platform and wrote: “This is how dictators destroy free countries. They threaten those who oppose them with death.” Trump called her a “little , a vengeful, cruel, unstable person” who wanted to be a tyrant. She also renewed her call for Harris' election through the hashtag “#VoteKamala.”

Harris' campaign also played an excerpt on X that contained two of Trump's worst-sounding sentences about Cheney. Trump’s team later accused Harris’ campaign of taking the quote out of context. This is a well-known tactic following provocative comments from former presidents.

Trump made the remarks while speaking with right-wing host Tucker Carlson. Regarding his political opponents, the Republican once again spoke of “the enemy within” and “the enemy of the people.”

Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July when a bullet grazed his ear, which some Republican politicians later blamed on Democratic rhetoric that painted him as a threat to democracy. Trump himself frequently makes deals with his opponents. In Arizona, he said of Harris that she was “dumb as a rock” and described Democrats as a threat to democracy. (Sudanese Development Authority/Department of Political Affairs)

The Kremlin has a severe shortage of frontline personnel. Now, apparently anyone with the hepatitis C virus can go to war.

Huge losses on the Ukraine war front could force Russia to take more drastic measures to replenish its forces. As many as 1,200 soldiers were killed in a single day; 615,000 soldiers are said to have been killed in Moscow since the attacks in Ukraine. According to the New York Times, American experts estimate that 115,000 of them were killed.