White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt fiercely denied that Donald Trump was calling for executions after the president accused Democratic lawmakers of sedition, which is “punishable by death.”
Trump reposted that six Democratic lawmakers featured in a video released this week were “traitors” and even one that read “HANG THEM.”
“Just to be clear, does the president want to execute members of Congress?” CBS News’ Nancy Cordes asked Leavitt on Thursday.
“No,” Leavitt responded.
Trump’s posts about sedition punishable by death were in response to a video released this week by six Democratic lawmakers who are veterans and released a direct message to U.S. service members that they can and must “refuse illegal orders.”
Leavitt immediately accused the media of not wanting to talk about what the president was responding to.
“You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders,” Leavitt declared.
The lawmakers in the video were clear in their message that service members took an oath to the U.S. Constitution and could refuse “illegal” orders. However, they did not specify what constitutes an illegal order.
“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos, and that’s what these members of Congress who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution are essentially encouraging,” she said.
She argued that their video could “incite violence” and “disrupt the chain of command.”
The Democrats featured in the video include senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, as well as Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Jason Crow.
“They were leaning into their credentials as former members of our military, as veterans, as former members of the national security apparatus to signal to people serving under this commander in chief Donald Trump that you can defy him, and you can betray your oath of office,” Leavitt declared.
She called it a hazardous message and argued it was “perhaps punishable by law.”
Leavitt did not address the fact that Trump had specifically reposted a message that said, “HANG THEM.”
When it was pointed out that the president had accused the other side of encouraging political violence and asked how this was not what he was doing, Leavitt pushed back.
“Why aren’t you talking about what these members of Congress are doing to encourage and incite violence?” she fired back.
She repeatedly accused them of saying members do not have to follow “lawful orders.”
In the video, the lawmakers warn that the administration is “pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens” and that the threats are not just coming from abroad but at home.
They repeatedly say “you can refuse illegal orders” and state “no one has to carry out orders that violate law or our Constitution.”
Cordes pointed out to Leavitt that the group clearly stated it was about “illegal orders,” but Leavitt pushed back.
“They’re suggesting, Nancy, that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that is given to this United States military by this commander in chief and through this command—chain of command, through the Secretary of War is lawful,” Leavitt argued.
Later, as she was leaving the briefing, a reporter could be heard pointing out that she had misquoted the Democrats in the video, but the press secretary did not respond.
The president wrote on Thursday morning about the video: “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” Soon after, he wrote “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
Democratic congressional leaders slammed the president’s series of posts and reposts as a dangerous call for political violence.
The six lawmakers also released a joint statement, standing by their words in the video and saying they would not be intimidated.
“No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation,” they said. “What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law.”
The group called for every American to “unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence.”
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