Speaking to CBS News Face the NationRubio had a heated back-and-forth with host Margaret Brennan over Trump’s suggestion that Cheney be sent to a war zone.

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“Donald Trump does not speak like someone who has been in Washington for 30 years,” Rubio began, defending the statement.

“Training GUNS on her face?” Brennan interjected.

“No, but that’s not what he said. Margaret, you know this. Come on, everyone knows exactly what he was saying,” he retorted.

Brennan argued that the quote showed Trump intended his remarks as a threat, which Rubio countered was taken out of context.

“He said he was going to give him a gun to get into trouble,” Rubio said, countering accusations by Cheney and others. liberal figures who claimed Trump was threatening to send Cheney to a firing squad. “You don’t normally give a gun to someone who is going to face a firing squad, as much of the media has made it sound.”

“The idea he was saying is not a new one,” he continued. “It’s a point that’s been made by people in both parties for decades, which is that you’re all for war, and it’s easy to be for war when you’re in a fancy building and you’re healthy. in Washington, DC. Let’s see how much you are for war when you are sent into battle.”

The Florida The Republican then suggested that the argument about the quote indicated a broader trend of media bias.

“I think it’s not just unfair; it’s glaring to see that he reported it as it was, along with other things that are out there,” he said. “I have never seen such a concerted effort. And look, I’ve always thought there was bias, because no one is unbiased, but I’ve never seen such a concerted effort as I’ve seen, especially in the last two weeks, among multiple media institutions in this country to, in some cases, misrepresent and outright lie about what is being said and to create, to produce these anti-Donald Trump moments, I’ve never seen it before.”

The controversy began on Friday when Trump suggested that Cheney should be sent to war.

“He is a radical war hawk. Let’s put it with a shotgun, standing there with nine barrels shooting at it. OK? let’s see how she feels about it,” he said. “You know, when guns are pointed in her face. You know, they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, “Oh shit… let’s send 10,000 troops right into the enemy’s mouth.”

“But he’s a bad person,” Trump continued. “I would have dates with a lot of people, and she always wanted to go war with people.”

Cheney interpreted the remarks as a death threat.

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

Cheney’s interpretation quickly caught on in Democratic and anti-Trump circles. The anti-Trump Drudge Report ran the headline “TRUMP CALLS FOR CHENEY’S EXECUTION.”

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Trump followed up his comments on Saturday.

“I think Liz Cheney is a disaster. All she wants to do is blow people up,” he told reporters. “He’s a war hawk, and a fool at that. And if you ever put her on the battlefield, she’d be the first to kidnap. “