어서 자르다

cut it; also, fire someone

An "-아서/-어서" clause giving the manner or the reason, plus 자르다 "cut". Literal cutting is here — cut in layers, cut along the line, cut it up big like a cake, the part I edited and trimmed for you. But 자르다 also means to fire someone or cut them loose, and several lines use that: they picked a winner and then cut him for this reason and that, branded a crypto opponent and cut, a coup that cut him out. Only context, never the form, tells you which one you have.