'All I'm saying': Trump tries to dig himself out of Liz Cheney violence scandal
It has been less than 24 hours since Donald Trump uttered a violent fantasy that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) should experience "nine guns are trained on her face" in a war zone.
The comment was widely translated as wishing that Cheney be executed.
On Friday, he took to Truth Social in an effort to clean up his comments about her on Truth Social.
Trump said on the platform that his intention was to highlight the fact that Cheney is a "war hawk" — a name Cheney's father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, was frequently attacked with over support for U.S. invasions, particularly in the Middle East.
The younger Cheney has supported regime changes in the region.
"All I’m saying about Liz Cheney is that she is a War Hawk, and a dumb one at that, but she wouldn’t have 'the guts' to fight herself," Trump said on Truth Social as he tried to reframe his insults.
"It’s easy for her to talk, sitting far from where the death scenes take place, but put a gun in her hand, and let her go fight, and she’ll say, 'No thanks!' Her father decimated the Middle East, and other places, and got rich by doing so. He’s caused plenty of DEATH, and probably never even gave it a thought. That’s not what we want running our Country!" said Trump.
Trump never served in uniform and was given five draft deferments to escape the Vietnam War due to alleged "bone spurs."
The fact has earned Trump ridicule from those who have served, calling him "cadet bone spurs."
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE) noted in an interview in 2019 that bone spurs don't get "cured" and that they would remain visible on X-rays if Trump agreed to show them.