Gun Violence Victim Gabby Giffords Denounces Trump Threatening to Execute Her Husband: ‘Dangerous’
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who was shot in the head in 2011, decried President Donald Trump’s threat to execute her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), on Thursday. Giffords condemned Trump’s violent rhetoric and called it “dangerous.”
“My husband @CaptMarkKelly is a 25-year Navy combat pilot veteran. He served our country with strength, courage, and integrity, dedicating his career to protecting us and upholding our constitution,” wrote Giffords on X, adding:
Today, the President of the United States called him a traitor and demanded he be executed. It is dangerous and wrong. Americans of all political beliefs need to stand up and say so.
Trump accused Kelly, along with five other Democrats, of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH” after they put out a video urging military members not to follow “illegal orders.” Trump later reposted a social media user saying to “Hang them.”
Sen. Kelly also replied on social media, writing, “I’ve had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire, and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I’d see a President call for my execution. Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we’re all less safe for it.”
Giffords left Congress in 2011 after a gunman shot her point-blank in the head while she was meeting constituents in a grocery store parking lot. The shooting left six dead and over a dozen others injured, including Giffords — who was in critical condition and has spent years recovering her motor functions.
Trump’s threatening language was roundly condemned on Thursday and House Democratic leadership out out a statement saying, “We have been in contact with the House Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police to ensure the safety of these Members and their families. Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.”
