Trump's threat to Liz Cheney is “disqualifying”

Kamala Harris said Friday that Donald Trump's proposal to put Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad “disqualified” him from the presidency.

Trump on Thursday conjured up an image of Cheney — who, along with her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, has endorsed Harris — “with a gun standing there and shooting at her with nine barrels.”

After criticizing Trump's suggestion that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would do so In his next term he will focus on women's healththe vice president called his comments about Cheney “even worse.” She argued that he had increased his violent rhetoric against political opponents and criticized the “big details” he used fantasizes about the former representative being shot.

“This has to be disqualifying,” Harris told reporters before an event in Janesville, Wisconsin. “Anyone who wants to be president of the United States and uses this type of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unfit to be president.”

Harris said she hasn't spoken to Cheney since Trump made that comment about her, but added that it diminishes America's moral authority.

“I’ve also thought a lot about what this means in terms of our standing in the world,” she said.

Despite Harris' concerns, the comment was a gift to the Democratic campaign, which told reporters Friday that Trump has steered swathes of voters who had just decided to support Harris this week.

In the final weeks before Election Day, she has stepped up Trump's antagonistic language toward his political rivals and highlighted his openness to using the military against left-leaning citizens.

She slammed Trump for his “enemies list” later that afternoon at an event at a union hall in Wisconsin, but did not specifically address the crowd about Cheney's comment. Instead, she focused on her support for unionized workers.

Trump's campaign and the former president himself argued Friday that his critics had taken his gun comment out of context and that he had merely called Cheney a “war hawk.” But Harris' allies had already pounced.

Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, another Republican who has endorsed Harris, suggested that Trump's intent was “reckless” and malicious.

Harris spokesman Ian Sams told Morning Joe on Friday that Trump's “dangerous, violent rhetoric” will continue to encourage Trump-skeptical Republicans to cast their vote for Harris.

“You have Donald Trump talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad, and you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to her Cabinet,” he said.