Overview
- On Truth Social, the president called the lawmakers’ appeal “seditious” and wrote it was “punishable by DEATH,” escalating his attacks after their video addressed to military and intelligence personnel.
- Democratic leaders condemned the language as “violent and unbridled,” urged him to delete the posts “before someone is killed,” and Senator Chuck Schumer warned he was lighting a match in a combustible climate.
- White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt asserted that all orders from the commander in chief are legal and answered “No” when asked if the president wanted the Democrats executed.
- One outlet reported that Trump reshared a post saying “Hang them,” further intensifying concern about threats to the targeted lawmakers.
- More than 360 former military and diplomatic officials voiced support for the lawmakers’ stance on refusing illegal orders, as criticism of National Guard deployments and roughly twenty recent Caribbean and Pacific strikes—linked to at least 83 deaths and flagged by the UN rights chief—provides the backdrop.