The backlash the legacy media is facing over its coverage of former President Trump's recent comments about former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., is going far beyond his supporters.
At an event in Glendale, Arizona, Trump took a swipe at Cheney, who has been campaigning in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, for being a "radical war hawk."
"I don’t blame [former Vice President Dick Cheney] for sticking with his daughter, but his daughter is a very dumb individual. Very dumb, she’s a radical war hawk. 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," Trump said. "You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in the nice buildings saying ‘Oh gee well, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy."
Several news organizations twisted Trump's comments to suggest he was calling for Cheney's "execution."
The New York Times ran the headline "Trump attacks Liz Cheney using violent war imagery." The Washington Post published "Trump suggests ‘war hawk’ Liz Cheney should have guns ‘trained to her face.’" CNN's headline went even further, reading "Trump says ‘war hawk’ Liz Cheney should be fired upon in escalation of violent rhetoric against his opponents."
The Drudge Report went viral with its top of the page headline in bold red caps, "TRUMP CALLS FOR CHENEY'S EXECUTION."
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The sensational coverage happened on-air as well.
"Former President Donald Trump is escalating his violent rhetoric, suggesting one of his most prominent critics, the former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, should be fired upon," CNN anchor Kasie Hunt told viewers.
Hunt's CNN colleague Jim Acosta grilled Rep Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., over Trump's comments, saying, "When he says nine barrels shooting at her, that obviously evokes images of a firing squad. It evokes images of an execution, does it not?"
MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire called it "the latest escalation of really dangerous, violent rhetoric," while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told "The View" co-hosts it "absolutely" was a threat to Cheney.
Not everyone is buying the narrative, however. And not just Trump's defenders.
Critics of the former president across the political spectrum are calling out the media's coverage.
"Trump did NOT call for Liz Cheney to be executed," former GOP congressman and anti-Trump critic Joe Walsh reacted on X. "Look, you know how I feel about Trump, and I’ve been out there every day for 2-3 months campaigning my ass off to help get @KamalaHarris elected, but this short clip is so deceptive. Trump is NOT calling for Liz Cheney to be executed in front of a firing line. He’s not. Listen to the entirety of what he said."
"He’s an utterly horrible human being who’s utterly unfit for office, but the truth should always matter. And the truth is that Trump is not calling for Liz Cheney to be executed," Walsh added.
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"Donald Trump did not call for the execution of Liz Cheney. That is a bald-faced lie," The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur wrote. "He was making a point about how she is a chickenhawk. But also, Trump shouldn't talk about guns being ‘trained on her face,’ especially in a time where we're worried about political violence."
"This is a classic case of Trump saying something outrageous and the press bailing him out by being purposely misleading. You didn't have to lie about it for the comment to be totally irresponsible. And when you do, you lose all credibility and no one believes anything you say," Uygur continued.
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"I don’t support Donald Trump but I also don’t support journalists lying to their audiences, and when he says (paraphrased) 'these pro-war people wouldn’t be talking such a big game if they were on the front lines' it is actually not the same thing as saying they should be shot," The Free Press columnist Kat Rosenfield said.
"Folks, Trump didn't threaten to execute Liz Cheney," Vox correspondent Zack Beauchamp said. "He actually was calling her a chickenhawk, something liberals said about her for ages. Look at the context — Trump is talking about giving her a weapon. Typically, people put in front of firing squads aren't armed.
Political scientist Ian Bremmer blasted the Drudge Report's headline, saying, "this is extraordinary irresponsibility, made worse only by the fact that it’s increasingly common across the political spectrum in the United States.
"The Trump ‘bloodbath’ comment and his latest on Liz Cheney have both been exaggerated and taken out of context all while the press imagines apostrophes to excuse Joe Biden. This is why trust in the press is collapsing and why Trump is on the verge of winning," conservative radio host Erick Erickson pointed out.
"The corporate media has completely given up on even pretending to maintain a tiny pretense of non-partisan neutrality," journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote. "Compare this WashPost ‘news article’ about what Trump said to what he actually said. This is why, as Bezos told them, nobody trusts them: deservedly so."
