WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday assailed Democratic lawmakers who told members of the US military they must refuse any illegal orders, calling them ‘traitors who could face execution’.
Trump reposted an article about a video released on Tuesday by six Democratic lawmakers who served in the military or in the intelligence community.
“Seditious behaviour, punishable by death,” the Republican president wrote in a Truth Social post.
“This is really bad, and dangerous to our country,” Trump wrote in an earlier post. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. Seditious behavior from traitors!!! Lock them up???”
Trump’s posts are the latest example of him calling for punishment of those he sees as political enemies. Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has occasionally called for imprisoning adversaries and his Justice Department has targeted critics such as former federal officials John Bolton and James Comey.
In Nov 2021, Trump defended the chants of his supporters who called for hanging Vice President Mike Pence as they stormed the US Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan 6 of that year.
Top Democrats in Congress said Trump’s words could incite violence. House of Representatives leaders said they contacted Capitol police to ensure the Democratic lawmakers’ safety.
At a news briefing later, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said “no” when asked whether the president wanted to execute members of Congress, but she castigated the Democrats for encouraging members of the military to defy the chain of command.
For civilians, US law has no provision for a charge of sedition, although “seditious conspiracy” carries a maximum penalty of 20 years. For troops, the uniform code includes a section on sedition, with possible penalties including death.
The lawmakers include Senators Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, and Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy veteran, as well as Representatives Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan.
‘Refuse illegal orders’
In the video, they directly address members of the US military and intelligence community, saying the Trump administration was pitting those institutions against the American people and threatening tenets of the constitution.
“We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now,” they said.
“Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders,” said Kelly.
The other lawmakers offer a similar refrain before Slotkin concluded: “We need you to stand up for our laws, our constitution. Don’t give up the ship.”
After Trump published his post, Slotkin wrote on X that she and her colleagues would continue to defend the constitution. “No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation,” Slotkin wrote.
The lawmakers did not refer to any particular incident or scenario, and did not provide any examples of orders that they might consider illegal.
Some Democrats in Congress have been sharply critical of Trump’s military strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the southern Caribbean and the Pacific, focusing on the legality and lack of transparency.
