@willdup
I truly, honestly want to know how you can take this exact quote:
“She’s a radical war hawk,” Trump said of Cheney on Thursday night. “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know, they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, ‘Oh gee … let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.'”
...and claim he's calling for her to be executed by a firing squad. It's utter nonsense. It doesn't even have to be about giving Trump any 'benefit of the doubt'. It's literally basic reading comprehension, imo.
Anyone who honestly watches the clip of what Trump said will discern that he was obviously suggesting Cheney should pick up a rifle and join the thousands of young Americans she’s sent overseas to fight in forever wars. Anyone who interprets it differently is either lying or utterly stupid (which I know you're not).
It takes a real twisting of his full quote to come to any other conclusion.
If I said that Trump was calling for Chaney to be executed, that’s wrong and consider me wearing the cone of shame for the morning.
What Trump
is doing is using violent imagery that features those who oppose him.
Did he call for Milley to be executed? Not exactly. Did he say that that what Milley did should be considered treasonous and treason is punished by execution? He did. It’s two different things but both associate violence with someone who opposes him.
Did Trump specifically tell the people at his rally to go violently attack the Capitol in an effort to stop certification? He did not. Did he foment the crowd with lies about a stolen election and incite them “to fight like hell to save the country or we won’t have a country anymore”? Yes he did.
During the 2020 debate with Biden, did Trump explicitly tell the Proud Boys to go commit seditious conspiracy in an effort to help him steal the election? Nope. Did he instruct him to “stand back and stand by” and did they subsequently commit seditious conspiracy in an effort to help Trump steal the election? He did.
I could go on. Specificity of language is important and you are correct when you say that Trump did not call for Chaney to be executed by firing squad. Hopefully I’ve explained above why I don’t think that’s determinate regarding the appropriateness of the comment.
Don’t look to me to defend Dick Chaney’s record in Iraq.
I lived in NY during 9/11 and spent three hours that afternoon at Ground Zero waiting to volunteer. I have some very strong feelings about that day. I still opposed the invasion of Iraq and I understand any ire and hatred veterans of that war have for the Chaneys, full stop.
None of that changes the fact that Trump evoking violent imagery featuring those who oppose him, when considered in the context of the totality of Trump’s history, is concerning and problematic.