TOI CORRESPONDENT FROM WASHINGTON: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a female Democrat, has opened an investigation into comments by MAGA supremo Donald Trump wondering how “war hawk” Liz Cheney would feel if guns were “trained on her face” as a potentially prosecutable offense, amid a raging gender clash in the US Presidential election.
“I have already asked my criminal division chief to start looking at that statement, analyzing it for whether it qualifies as a death threat under Arizona’s laws,” Mayes said in a TV interview even as Kamala Harris said such violent rhetoric should be disqualifying. Her campaign managers added that it was tantamount to suggesting Cheney be put before a firing squad.
“Think about the contrast. You have Trump talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad… Vice president Harris is talking about sending one to her Cabinet,” Harris’ senior advisor Ian Sams said.
Read also: Donald Trump doubles down on Liz Cheney amid ‘war hawk’ row, calls her ‘disaster’
Political pundits and gun experts are still trying to figure out what liberal critics say is Trump’s purported “execution fantasy” in which he wanted Cheney to face “nine barrels.” A firing squad can vary in number. Most states have outlawed firing squads. The last death by firing squad took place in Utah in 2010. But the comment has triggered outrage in Democratic ranks, particularly women, and Harris supporters hope it will rouse at least some female Trump supporters who appear to have no problems with his rhetoric.
Polls show Harris leading by an average of 11 points among women while Trump leads by 10 points among men — a 21-point gap in the vote margin. Women make up a larger share of the US electorate than men. Early voting data in the current election, where almost 70 million voters have already cast ballots, shows women making up about 55 percent of early voters in battleground states. This is offset by Trump running about five points ahead among men than he did against Biden in 2020.
Read also: Liz Cheney urges George W Bush to back Kamala Harris
Although Kamala Harris has been careful not to emphasize gender (or race and ethnicity for that matter) contours of a women v men battle has taken shape with Harris surrogates suggesting MAGA women should voter for her in defiance of their domineering spouses.
The 2024 campaign continues to plumb new depths with ugly sexist memes and doctored or misrepresented video clips having a free run on untethered social media. While Trump supporters have circulated images purporting to show Harris having loose morals, her supporters in turn have plied clips showing Trump as a degenerate. On Friday, liberal trolls shared a clip of Trump expressing frustration over a faulty mike at a rally in Milwaukee, alleging he was simulating a fellatio.
Trump also flew into a rage after he was taunted by a former billionaire fanboy, Mark Cuban, who told a TV show that the MAGA supremo is intimidated by strong, intelligent women. He unloaded on Cuban, calling him a “dumb guy” “weak” “insecure” “a major loser” “unattractive” etc., in an extraordinarily tetchy social media rant.
The Trump campaign later released testimonials from several women, including his former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway and Arkansas Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former spokesperson, sharing why women support Trump and how he has empowered them. “He (Cuban) is very wrong, I surround myself with the strongest of women — With the understanding that ALL women are great, whether strong or not strong,” Trump wrote. There was no word from his wife Melania Trump or his daughter Ivanka, who have both been very scarce on the campaign trail.
