Overview
- In multiple Truth Social posts, President Trump said the lawmakers should be arrested and tried and wrote that their conduct was "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH," while also sharing a post calling for them to be hanged.
- The video, posted Tuesday by Sen. Elissa Slotkin and featuring Sen. Mark Kelly and Reps. Jason Crow, Chrissy Houlahan, Maggie Goodlander and Chris Deluzio, urges service members and intelligence personnel to follow the Constitution and reject illegal orders.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump does not want to execute members of Congress but argued the message could be unlawful and insisted every order issued through the chain of command is legal.
- Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell disputed the premise that illegal orders are being issued, saying civilians give legal orders and describing the lawmakers' claims as out of bounds.
- The targeted Democrats defended the video as a restatement of military duty under the UCMJ, while Democratic leaders condemned Trump’s rhetoric and said they had engaged Capitol security about member safety.