Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is facing renewed criticism after acknowledging she is “not aware” of any illegal orders issued by President Donald Trump, despite appearing in a video urging service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
According to Fox News, Slotkin was pressed on the controversy during an interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, where host Martha Raddatz asked whether the video was meant to accuse Trump of issuing unlawful military commands.
“Do you believe President Trump has issued any illegal orders?” Raddatz asked.
Slotkin replied, “To my knowledge, I am not aware of things that are illegal, but certainly there are some legal gymnastics that are going on with these Caribbean strikes and everything related to Venezuela.”
Raddatz pushed back, asking for specifics behind the warning. Slotkin then shifted to her concerns about Trump’s deployment of National Guard units in cities around the country.
“When you look at these videos coming out of places like Chicago, it makes me incredibly nervous that we are about to see people in law enforcement, people in uniform, military get nervous, get stressed, shoot at American civilians,” Slotkin said.
She added that the message in the video was intended as guidance for troops who might feel conflicted.
“It is a very, very stressful situation for these law enforcement [officers] and for the communities on the ground. So it was basically a warning to say if you are asked to do something, particularly against American citizens, you have the ability to go to your [Judge Advocate General] JAG officer and push back,” she said.
Raddatz noted that the video “does imply that the president is having illegal orders, which you have not seen.”
Slotkin responded that the message was meant broadly.
“I think for us, it was just a statement widely, right? We say very quickly and to all the folks who come to us, this is the process. Go to your JAG officer, ask them for explanation for top cover for their view on things,” she said. Slotkin added that lawmakers wanted to respond to “the volumes of people who came to us on this.”
The backlash intensified after conservatives accused Slotkin and the other Democratic lawmakers in the video of encouraging defiance of the president.
On Saturday, Trump condemned the video on Truth Social, calling the lawmakers “traitors.”
“It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime,” Trump wrote. “There can be no other interpretation of what they said!”
