In a notable escalation of his violent rhetoric toward political opponents and other critics Donald Trump referred to as a former representative Liz Cheney a “radical war hawk” and an “idiot” who should have guns “pointed in his face.” “Let’s put them there with a nine-barreled gun, okay?” Trump said this on Thursday at a campaign rally in Arizona.

Trump’s comments about Cheney – an outspoken “Never-Trumper” with whom he has been campaigning lately Kamala Harris– are probably the clearest of the various violent threats and insinuations that Trump made during the election campaign. He previously vowed to use the U.S. military against “left-wing radicals” and repeatedly sought to demonize Democratic lawmakers by branding them an “enemy within.” At campaign rallies and on social media, Trump often portrays the election in militaristic terms: a “battle,” a form of “retaliation,” or a war against foreign “invasion.”

Among Democrats and other Trump critics, the former president’s escalating rhetoric has only bolstered claims that Trump, who famously rallied his supporters before a mob of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has authoritarian or fascist tendencies – Claims that Cheney himself confirmed in a post to X on Friday. “This is how dictators destroy free nations,” she wrote. “They threaten those who speak out against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel and unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”

According to a Washington Post– In a Schar School poll released last week, nearly half of swing state voters – 45% – believe Trump will “try to rule as a dictator” if he wins the election next week. Confusingly, a similar share of voters said Trump was better prepared to deal with threats to democracy. The Harris campaign, for its part, has increasingly sought to portray Trump himself as such a threat, contrasting his bipartisan bombast with Harris’ promise to work across the aisle and add a Republican to her Cabinet.

“Think about the contrast between these two candidates,” Harris adviser and spokesman said Ian Sams continued saying Morning Joe Friday. “You have Donald Trump talking about sending a prominent Republican to the firing squad, and you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to her Cabinet. That’s the difference in this race.”