Despite several social media posts that seem to suggest the contrary, President Donald Trump does not want to execute Democratic members of Congress for “seditious behavior,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday morning to berate the two U.S. senators and three representatives – all Democrats with prior national security or military service – who recently urged military service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
Linking to a story by the Washington Examiner that reported on the lawmakers’ comments, Trump accused the five Democrats of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.”
“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” he wrote. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”
About an hour later, the president posted “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and then shared a comment that said “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
Democrats immediately condemned the posts, with Democratic leaders in the House calling Trump’s statements “disgusting and dangerous death threats.”
The five lawmakers who had called on service members to disobey illegal orders – Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; and Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo.; Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; – stated jointly that “[n]o threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us.”
“What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law,” they added. “Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders.”
Leavitt, however, denied that Trump wants to execute members of Congress and accused the lawmakers, who “knew what they were doing,” of perpetuating “a very, very dangerous message.”
“Let’s be clear what the president is responding to,” Leavitt said in a Thursday afternoon presser. “You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military…encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders.”
Although the lawmakers only told servicemembers to defy unlawful orders, “they’re suggesting that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not,” Leavitt said.
“To suggest and encourage that active duty servicemembers defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do, and they should be held accountable, and that’s what the president wants to see.”
