Vice President JD Vance fired back at Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) after she appeared to contradict an earlier statement she made, specifically that U.S. service members should “refuse illegal orders” from President Donald Trump.
Slotkin was asked on Sunday whether she believed Trump has actually issued any unlawful military orders, to which she responded in the negative, though added that “certainly there are some legal gymnastics … going on with these Caribbean strikes and everything related to Venezuela.”
Vance reposted a clip of that remark on X and suggested Slotkin’s previous statement, which came in a joint video address with Democratic veterans last week, was illegal.
“If the president hasn’t issued illegal orders, them members of Congress telling the military to defy the president is by definition illegal,” Vance said.
The vice president’s comments now only add to growing scrutiny over the video that featured a half-dozen Democratic veterans in Congress urging active military members to “refuse” unspecified “illegal orders.”
Trump was quick to rebuke the video, even suggesting their statement was “punishable by death.” He toned down that rhetoric on Saturday night, though still called for jail time for the congresspeople.
SLOTKIN SAYS TRUMP ATTACKS ON DEMOCRAT VETERAN LAWMAKERS IS ‘A TOOL OF FEAR’
“THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK. IT WASN’T, AND NEVER WILL BE!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “IT WAS SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, AND SEDITION IS A MAJOR CRIME. THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID!”
The president also claimed he has the backing of “many” legal scholars, calling the Democrats’ statement a “CRIME OF SERIOUS PROPORTION.”
