Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha said a new video released by six Democratic lawmakers urging service members to reject “illegal orders” represents an extraordinary break from long-standing norms governing the military.
Concha joined Fox News’s Hannity on Thursday to discuss the video, which features Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). The lawmakers, all military veterans, warn of “threats to our Constitution” and repeatedly tell military and intelligence personnel to refuse unlawful commands, though they do not specify what orders they consider illegal.
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Concha said their message undermines the principle of civilian control of the armed forces.
“The president is called the commander in chief for a reason,” Concha said. “He gives a command, and the military follows that command — no ambiguity, no interpretation, no debate. That’s how it’s always been and how it should be.”
Concha questioned what would happen if service members decided mid-mission that they believed an assignment might be unlawful.
“As an example, if pilots flying an 18-hour mission into hostile territory suddenly decided, ‘You know what, this may be illegal,’ what then?” Concha said. “What if they turned the planes around? What if they warned the enemy? This is the type of unhinged scenario Democrats are opening the door to.”
He said Democrats have grown accustomed to making “outrageous” statements and then playing the victim when criticized. He added that major media outlets were attempting to cast President Donald Trump, who blasted the video earlier this week, as the aggressor.
“It is 31 flavors of delusion,” Concha said. “Democrats can’t even define what an illegal order is, yet they’re telling service members to disobey them.”
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Concha said he does not expect the news media to press the lawmakers on the message they promoted.
“The press will not hold them accountable, of course, because they serve at the pleasure of the Democratic Party,” Concha said. “It’s up to voters to decide whether this is acceptable. We need a military that follows the commander in chief, not what Democrats deem too ‘woke’ to carry out.”
