House and Senate Democratic leadership slammed President Donald Trump after he said Democratic veterans‘ campaign to refuse “unlawful orders” is “punishable by death.”
House Democratic leaders released a statement Thursday, saying they have contacted the Capitol Police and the sergeant-at-arms in response to a TruthSocial post by the president.
“Let’s be crystal clear: The president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday on the Senate floor. “This is an outright threat, and it’s deadly serious. We have already seen what happens when Donald Trump tells his followers that his political opponents are enemies of the state.”
Trump turned to Truth Social on Thursday morning after a group of Democratic veterans released a video on Wednesday urging service members to disobey unlawful orders. He originally called for them to be “locked up,” then went further to say “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country,” Trump’s first post reads. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”
The video consisted of 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), who said the “threats to our Constitution” are coming “from right here at home.” They urged military and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders.”
The six members released a joint statement in response to the president’s comments: “What’s the most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death to restate the law.”
“Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence,” they continued. “This is a time for moral clarity.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had no initial reaction to Trump’s comments, telling reporters he was at former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral.
All of this comes after threats to members of Congress have drastically increased. Capitol Police noted that the 2026 Threat Assessment Cases could exceed 14,000 — final updated numbers will be pushed out early 2026. This is a drastic increase from 8,008 in 2023 and 9,474 in 2024.
DEMOCRATIC VETERANS IN CONGRESS URGE SERVICE MEMBERS TO REFUSE UNSPECIFIED UNLAWFUL ORDERS
“Members of Congress of both political parties receive a wide range of threats and concerning statements that are sent through the mail, email, telephone, social media, and the internet,” the USCP website reads. “People continue to have a false sense of anonymity on social media, which has resulted in more investigations during the past several years. Decreasing violent political rhetoric is one of the best ways to decrease the number of threats across the country.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to USCP for comment.
Ramsey Touchberry and David Sivak contributed to this article.
