“Liz Cheney Firing Squad"
Perhaps you've heard a clip of this quote about Liz Cheney being taken out of context:
"She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with her rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay 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."
Trump quite obviously means that if she could see through a soldier's eyes, with gun barrels pointed at their face, she might not be such a ware hawk. He feels like Liz Cheney doesn't care about the military troops that die. For several minutes before the quote, Trump is talking about war, how so many people die, and how she is a radical war hawk, and while Trump was in office she was always pro-war and hated that Trump was anti-war.
Snopes debunked the interpretation that Trump threatened to have Liz Cheney shot, but only offers 20 seconds of video context.
Here is the FULL VIDEO, with several minutes of transcript leading up to the quote, for full context:
"She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with her rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay 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."
Trump quite obviously means that if she could see through a soldier's eyes, with gun barrels pointed at their face, she might not be such a ware hawk. He feels like Liz Cheney doesn't care about the military troops that die. For several minutes before the quote, Trump is talking about war, how so many people die, and how she is a radical war hawk, and while Trump was in office she was always pro-war and hated that Trump was anti-war.
Snopes debunked the interpretation that Trump threatened to have Liz Cheney shot, but only offers 20 seconds of video context.
Here is the FULL VIDEO, with several minutes of transcript leading up to the quote, for full context:
Oct 31, 2024 – Tucker Carlson Live Tour Grand Finale With President Donald Trump LIVE in Glendale, AZ
Transcript:
2:18:25
But the reason she couldn't stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. I don't want to go to war. She wanted to go… she wanted to stay in Syria. I took them out. She wanted to stay in Iraq. I took them out. I mean if it were up to her we'd we'd be in 50 different countries. And you know, number one, it's very dangerous. Number two, a lot of people get killed. And number three, I mean it's very very expensive. That's why we owe $36 trillion. We go… you know, it used to be you go to war, to the victor belong the spoils right? In other words if you pat a country you own that country. You take the oil. We go to war, we bomb the crap out of it, then we leave.
2:19:09
You know, it's almost like, what are we doing? What what's going on? We we bombed the whole Middle East and then we left. What did we get? We got nothing. We destroyed… I mean, we bombed the hell out of everything. You know, when they went into… when they took out Iraq… For a thousand years, with different names you had Iran and Iraq, similar powers. They were the two big ones. And for a thousand years they would fight each other [gesturing] this way, this way, this way. Then they'd rest. This way, this way, then they'd rest. They were a self-check. Then one day we go in and bomb the hell out of one. We destroy one. And then all of a sudden Iran has the whole Middle East to itself and, by the way, right now Iran has Iraq. Iraq is like a subsidiary of Iran.
2:19:58
All right we did so many bad moves. and her father was, I was very critical of her father for years. I'd never met him, but I'd say anybody that went into the Middle East I thought was stupid. And he, they say, convinced Bush––Bush oh he was just he was another beauty––but he supposedly convinced Bush to go in. Him, Bolton, and some other lightweights, convinced him to go in. Let's go into the Middle East and destroy the whole place and kill millions of people. So they went in. But I was never a fan of Cheney. I was always very critical. And when I announced that I––very critical actually, not personally––but I said he made a horrible mistake. What are these people doing? They're spending, we spent 9 trillion. Trillion with a T, not even with a B. Normally I say not million, billion! But now I say not a billion, trillion! We spent $9 trillion bombing the hell out of the Middle East and what the hell did we get other than lots of dead people, including our people. We got nothing.
2:21:11
So I was very critical of him. And then I announced I was running, and I was shocked that he was one of the first people. He endorsed me immediately. I said that's amazing. But he had something that was very interesting. He had Scooter Libby. I mean these are little stories that are interesting. Scooter Libby was a man that could have done great destruction to Bush, and they left him behind. He was given to the prosecutors. They prosecuted him rather violently and he was almost like a sacrificial lamb.
2:21:44
And as somebody that knows a lot about what's happening I said, you know if I were ever president I'd do something with that guy. That guy got treated very badly, Scooter Libby. And when I became president I actually called Dick Cheney. I said let me ask you about scooter Libby. He was best friends, he was begging Bush to give scooter Libby a pardon but Bush didn't have the courage to do it. You know it takes courage to give a pardon. It does take a certain courage because the press comes after you, you know, etc etc. And he didn't have the courage. He should have given him a pardon but he didn't have the guts to do it. But scooter… and what happened is Dick Cheney for years, for a long time, hated Bush and don't let anyone tell you... he hated... he said. “You don't leave your wounded behind,” and I understand that.
2:22:43
And scooter Libby really saved Bush because he could have said things that would have been very dangerous for Bush in terms of getting impeached, in terms of going to jail, in terms of bad things happening, but Scooter Libby didn't do that. And in all fairness to Cheney, I give him credit for this. He was very loyal to him. But he couldn't get Bush to do what he should have done. I came into government and I did what they should have done. They didn't have the guts to do it. I did it. And scooter Libby was pardoned. I gave him a pardon. And I never met Scooter Libby by the way. Never talked to him before that. And I got a call from Scooter Libby after I did that, and he broke down in tears thanking me so so much.
2:23:28
And then Cheney called me and he said, “That was so incredible what you did for Scooter Libby.” Because he was really on Scooter Libby’s side. Scooter Libby took a lot of heat and took all of it, and didn't say anything bad about Bush or Cheney or anything else. Could have done it. I know, because you have guys that do that, and you have guys that lie, which is worse, right? But you have guys that do that. But he was very loyal to them, and he suffered greatly. I released him. Cheney called me he said said it's one of the nicest things I've ever seen done in politics. I said look I've heard for years he was treated unfairly. I've heard for years that bush should have given him a pardon. All I did is do something that somebody else should have done.
2:24:18
And Cheney was so… He said, “I really want to thank you.” He said, “Now I'm so glad that I actually endorsed you. It’s amazing that you would do this.” And I didn't speak to him about it. But then, you know, go a couple of years forward, to now, and I don't blame him for sticking with his daughter, but his daughter is a very dumb individual. Very dumb.
2:24:41
She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with her rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay 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. But she's a stupid person and I used to have, I’d have meetings with a lot of people and she always wanted to go to war with people.
2:25:19
So whether it's her, whether it's Dick… I was surprised a little bit with Dick Cheney. I didn't know him at all, I only had essentially the one or two phone calls, and it was only a call saying, “Thank you very much for doing that for Scooter Libby, that was nice.” And Scooter Libby, by the way, was beyond that, he couldn't believe that it happened. Nobody would do it. They should have done that for him years before. But I was a little surprised because I actually thought that Dick Cheney would go with me over his daughter, and he didn’t. And you know what, I understand it. It’s your daughter, and you go.
2:18:25
But the reason she couldn't stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. I don't want to go to war. She wanted to go… she wanted to stay in Syria. I took them out. She wanted to stay in Iraq. I took them out. I mean if it were up to her we'd we'd be in 50 different countries. And you know, number one, it's very dangerous. Number two, a lot of people get killed. And number three, I mean it's very very expensive. That's why we owe $36 trillion. We go… you know, it used to be you go to war, to the victor belong the spoils right? In other words if you pat a country you own that country. You take the oil. We go to war, we bomb the crap out of it, then we leave.
2:19:09
You know, it's almost like, what are we doing? What what's going on? We we bombed the whole Middle East and then we left. What did we get? We got nothing. We destroyed… I mean, we bombed the hell out of everything. You know, when they went into… when they took out Iraq… For a thousand years, with different names you had Iran and Iraq, similar powers. They were the two big ones. And for a thousand years they would fight each other [gesturing] this way, this way, this way. Then they'd rest. This way, this way, then they'd rest. They were a self-check. Then one day we go in and bomb the hell out of one. We destroy one. And then all of a sudden Iran has the whole Middle East to itself and, by the way, right now Iran has Iraq. Iraq is like a subsidiary of Iran.
2:19:58
All right we did so many bad moves. and her father was, I was very critical of her father for years. I'd never met him, but I'd say anybody that went into the Middle East I thought was stupid. And he, they say, convinced Bush––Bush oh he was just he was another beauty––but he supposedly convinced Bush to go in. Him, Bolton, and some other lightweights, convinced him to go in. Let's go into the Middle East and destroy the whole place and kill millions of people. So they went in. But I was never a fan of Cheney. I was always very critical. And when I announced that I––very critical actually, not personally––but I said he made a horrible mistake. What are these people doing? They're spending, we spent 9 trillion. Trillion with a T, not even with a B. Normally I say not million, billion! But now I say not a billion, trillion! We spent $9 trillion bombing the hell out of the Middle East and what the hell did we get other than lots of dead people, including our people. We got nothing.
2:21:11
So I was very critical of him. And then I announced I was running, and I was shocked that he was one of the first people. He endorsed me immediately. I said that's amazing. But he had something that was very interesting. He had Scooter Libby. I mean these are little stories that are interesting. Scooter Libby was a man that could have done great destruction to Bush, and they left him behind. He was given to the prosecutors. They prosecuted him rather violently and he was almost like a sacrificial lamb.
2:21:44
And as somebody that knows a lot about what's happening I said, you know if I were ever president I'd do something with that guy. That guy got treated very badly, Scooter Libby. And when I became president I actually called Dick Cheney. I said let me ask you about scooter Libby. He was best friends, he was begging Bush to give scooter Libby a pardon but Bush didn't have the courage to do it. You know it takes courage to give a pardon. It does take a certain courage because the press comes after you, you know, etc etc. And he didn't have the courage. He should have given him a pardon but he didn't have the guts to do it. But scooter… and what happened is Dick Cheney for years, for a long time, hated Bush and don't let anyone tell you... he hated... he said. “You don't leave your wounded behind,” and I understand that.
2:22:43
And scooter Libby really saved Bush because he could have said things that would have been very dangerous for Bush in terms of getting impeached, in terms of going to jail, in terms of bad things happening, but Scooter Libby didn't do that. And in all fairness to Cheney, I give him credit for this. He was very loyal to him. But he couldn't get Bush to do what he should have done. I came into government and I did what they should have done. They didn't have the guts to do it. I did it. And scooter Libby was pardoned. I gave him a pardon. And I never met Scooter Libby by the way. Never talked to him before that. And I got a call from Scooter Libby after I did that, and he broke down in tears thanking me so so much.
2:23:28
And then Cheney called me and he said, “That was so incredible what you did for Scooter Libby.” Because he was really on Scooter Libby’s side. Scooter Libby took a lot of heat and took all of it, and didn't say anything bad about Bush or Cheney or anything else. Could have done it. I know, because you have guys that do that, and you have guys that lie, which is worse, right? But you have guys that do that. But he was very loyal to them, and he suffered greatly. I released him. Cheney called me he said said it's one of the nicest things I've ever seen done in politics. I said look I've heard for years he was treated unfairly. I've heard for years that bush should have given him a pardon. All I did is do something that somebody else should have done.
2:24:18
And Cheney was so… He said, “I really want to thank you.” He said, “Now I'm so glad that I actually endorsed you. It’s amazing that you would do this.” And I didn't speak to him about it. But then, you know, go a couple of years forward, to now, and I don't blame him for sticking with his daughter, but his daughter is a very dumb individual. Very dumb.
2:24:41
She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with her rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay 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. But she's a stupid person and I used to have, I’d have meetings with a lot of people and she always wanted to go to war with people.
2:25:19
So whether it's her, whether it's Dick… I was surprised a little bit with Dick Cheney. I didn't know him at all, I only had essentially the one or two phone calls, and it was only a call saying, “Thank you very much for doing that for Scooter Libby, that was nice.” And Scooter Libby, by the way, was beyond that, he couldn't believe that it happened. Nobody would do it. They should have done that for him years before. But I was a little surprised because I actually thought that Dick Cheney would go with me over his daughter, and he didn’t. And you know what, I understand it. It’s your daughter, and you go.