Even though the White House insisted President Donald Trump does not want the six Democratic lawmakers he called “traitors” killed, they are still getting death threats.
One of the six, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told NewsNation she had to increase her security after Trump made posts on Truth Social in response to a Facebook video they posted earlier.
“You get a lot of mentally unwell people who can do crazy things … We’ve gotten, I mean, a huge spike in death threats and intimidation on our phones and on our emails and websites,” she said.
Trump’s response came after the six, who all have military or intelligence backgrounds, urged servicemen and women to defy “illegal orders” from the administration.
The others in the video were Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.); Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.); Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.); and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.).
“The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution,” Elissa Slotkin wrote on X.
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Trump, in turn, called them traitors and said their actions “punishable by DEATH.”
Trump said on Truth Social that the lawmakers were engaging in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
He also reposted one user comment that stated “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
Slotkin also posted a response to Trump on X.
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Capitol Police were contacted after Trump’s statements.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Trump’s words “disgusting and dangerous threats.”
Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) released a joint statement requesteing Trump “immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.”
The posts were still on Truth Social as of Friday morning.
The lawmakers said they “swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Democrats are at fault for their initial comments. She said those comments enticed military members to “defy the president’s lawful orders,” thereby putting the chain of command at risk.
