President Donald Trump on Thursday called for six Democratic lawmakers to face arrest and trial after they made a video encouraging U.S. service members and members of the intelligence community to refrain from following orders if they broke the law.
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL,” Trump charged in a post on Truth Social. “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”
The president then reposted 16 Truth Social posts, including one that advocated for hanging the Democrats, like “GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD.”
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he later wrote.
Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), as well as Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Penn.) were featured in the Tuesday video. They are all either military veterans or worked in national security-focused roles before taking office.
“We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now,” they said. “Americans trust their military. But that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders.”
As part of a stated push to crack down on street crime and bolster deportations, Trump has federalized National Guard troops in American cities, including Washington, Chicago and Portland. Democratic officials have argued the president’s deployments constitute an illegal overreach of federal power and have sued to stop them.
None of the Democrats in the video immediately responded to a request for comment regarding Trump’s threats. But Trump continued to stew over the video Thursday.
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country,” he wrote later. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
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