On Thursday morning (November 20), President Donald Trump demanded the arrest of six Democratic lawmakers in a post on his Truth Social media platform, calling them “traitors” and suggesting that they be tried and put to death.
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL,” he wrote, adding: “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.” In another post, Trump raged, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
The posts were in response to a video featuring six Democrats from Congress – Senators Elissa Slotkin (MI) and Mark Kelly (AZ), and Representatives Maggie Goodlander (NH), Chris Deluzio(PA), Jason Crow (CO), and Chrissy Houlihan (PA) – directly addressing service members of their oaths in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” they said, concerning the administration’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt would field a direct question about Trump’s Truth Social posts later that afternoon. When asked if each of the lawmakers (who have military and intelligence backgrounds) should be killed, she replied, “No.”
Leavitt argued that the lawmakers’ video would be a threat to national safety. “Every single order given to the U.S. military by this commander in chief, through the chain of command and the secretary of war, is lawful,” she stated.
House Majority Speaker Mike Johnson (LA), a Republican, stated that the Democratic lawmakers’ video was “wildly inappropriate” and “dangerous”. But in later comments, he would say that they weren’t “punishable by death,” and that Trump was “trying to make a point.” But several Democratic members of congress, including other observers, swiftly expressed their outrage at the comments online.
- Senator Tammy Duckworth
