Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Friday that her office is investigating whether former President Donald Trump’s violent comments about former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney violate the law.
“I have already asked my chief of criminal division to look at that statement and analyze whether it qualifies as a death threat under Arizona law,” Mayes, a Democrat, said during a taping of “Sunday Square Off” on 12NEWS in Phoenix. .
“I’m not prepared to say now whether it was or not, but it is not helpful as we prepare for our elections and as we try to ensure that we keep the peace in our polling places and in our state. Mayes told the NBC affiliate.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, Richie Taylor, confirmed to NBC News that the office is “investigating” whether Trump’s comments violated Arizona law. NBC News reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
At an event in Arizona with Tucker Carlson on Thursday, Trump suggested that Cheney wouldn’t be such a “war hawk” if she had guns “pointed at her face.”
“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her there with a gun while nine barrels shoot her,” Trump said. “Okay, let’s see what she thinks about it. You know when the guns are pointed at her face – you know, they’re all war hawks when they’re in a nice building in Washington.
In a post to his Truth Social account Friday afternoon, Trump said Cheney would “not have the guts” to fight himself. It’s easy for her to talk because she sits far from where the death scenes take place, but if you put a gun in her hand and make her fight, she’ll say, “No thanks!” Trump defended his comments about Cheney, again calling her a war hawk and saying “she kills people”
Earlier in the day, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “100% right that warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight them, rather than taking up the fight themselves.” .”
Trump has escalated his violent rhetoric during his campaign over the past month. He calls Democrats and his opponents the “enemy from within” and has vowed to use the US military against American citizens. He also said during the 2024 race that he might jail his political opponents.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that former President Trump’s comments about Cheney should be “disqualifying.”
“He has stepped up his violent rhetoric, Donald Trump has, about political opponents, suggesting in great detail that guns should be pointed at former Rep. Liz Cheney,” Harris told reporters after landing near Madison, Wisconsin.
“This should be disqualifying. “Anyone who wants to be president of the United States and uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and not qualified to be president,” she added.
Harris said Trump is “permanently out for revenge” and that he is “increasingly unstable and unhinged.” “The list of his enemies has grown longer, his rhetoric has become more extreme, and he is even less focused than before on the needs, the concerns and the challenges facing the American people,” she said.
Asked to comment on Harris’ comments, Leavitt reiterated his statement from earlier in the day.
NBC News reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on the Arizona investigation.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
