PHOENIX — Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords joined a chorus of critics Friday against former President Donald Trump, after Trump used violent imagery to criticize a political foe.
Speaking in Glendale, AZ Thursday night, Trump seemed to muse about the prospect of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney being shot in the face. Trump was making a broader point about Cheney’s support of past wars.
“Let’s put her with the rifles standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. Let’s see how she feels about it when the guns are trained at her face.” “You know they are all war hawks when they are sitting in Washington in a nice building and say, ‘Oh gee let’s send ten thousand troops right into the mouth of the enemy.”
Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
Giffords released a statement through her nonprofit that advocates for gun control measures.
“As a survivor of political violence, I ask my fellow Arizonans and American patriots to reject Trump’s calls for violence and retribution,” Giffords said in a statement. Giffords called on Republicans to “speak out” against Trump’s comments.
“Any Republican who claims to respect the constitution and rule of law has a responsibility to speak out against Donald Trump’s dangerous comments immediately.”
In recent weeks Trump’s rallies have included the usual name-calling and insults hurled at political leaders, immigrants and entire groups of Americans. But in recent weeks Trump has also spoken about using the military against what he labels “the enemy within.” Trump has used the phrase to describe far left protestors and several Democratic elected leaders.
Trump’s escalated rhetoric has advocates of democracy concerned, calling it hallmarks of an authoritarian.
“This is not normal democratic behavior that we’re seeing. It’s not normal campaign behavior,” said John Carlson of the Recovering Truth Project at ASU during an interview earlier this week. “When you stigmatize people, calling them part of a deep state, part of the enemy within, you are violating a fundamental premise of civil codes of how we operate.”
Giffords was shot in the head at a “Congress on Your Corner” event in January 2011. The gunman killed six people and wounded 12 others. Giffords and her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, are passionate advocates for gun safety laws.