GLENDALE, Ariz. —  Donald Trump is calling former Rep. Liz Cheney, one of his most prominent Republican critics, a “war hawk” and suggesting she might not be as willing to send troops to fight if she had guns pointed at her. Cheney responded by branding the GOP presidential nominee a “cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”

At an event late Thursday in Arizona, with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump was asked whether it is strange to see Cheney campaign against him. The former Wyoming congresswoman has vocally opposed Trump since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House race, joining the vice president at recent stops.

Trump called Cheney “a deranged person” and added, “But the reason she couldn’t stand me is that she always wanted to go to war with people. If it were up to her we’d be in 50 different countries.”

The former president continued: “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with the 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, well let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy,” Trump said.

Cheney responded Friday in a post on X: “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”

Earlier, after Harris’ campaign and other Trump critics on social media had pounced on his comment, Trump’s campaign said he “was talking about how Liz Cheney wants to send America’s sons and daughters to fight in wars despite never being in a war herself.”

Licon writes for the Associated Press.