President Donald Trump on Friday denied that he was “threatening death” on the Democrats who called for the military and intelligence community to defy his administration’s orders.
Trump on Thursday accused the six Democratic lawmakers who participated in a Tuesday video instructing service members and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders” of committing “seditious behavior” that potentially could be “punishable by death.” However, the president said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” that while he believed the Democrats in the video were traitors and should face legal liability, he suggested that death was not a likely punishment.
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“I don’t know about the modern day things because modern day is a lot softer — but in the old days if you said a thing like that, that was punishable by death,” Trump said.
Host Brian Kilmeade asked if Trump was “threatening them” and noted that some viewed it as “a threat.”
“I’m not threatening them, but I think they’re in serious trouble. I would say they’re in serious trouble. I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days it was death,” the president said. “That was seditious behavior. That was a big deal. Today nothing’s a big deal. Today’s a different world … It’s a meeker, milder world. But … I think what they did is really bad.”
Trump added he believed the Democrats’ rhetoric was illegal, but that he was uncertain what repercussions they might face.
“That was a traitorous statement. That was a horrible thing to do. I believe they broke the law very strongly,” he said. “I think it’s a very serious violation of the law.”
Moreover, Trump said he believed the military was investigating the Democrats for their video.
Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin posted the video to X, in which she and her colleagues accused the Trump administration of “pitting” service members and intelligence community officials “against American citizens.” All six lawmakers in the video previously served in the military or intelligence community.
The president serves as commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. He is also in control of intelligence agencies like the FBI and CIA as leader of the executive branch — a responsibility laid out in Article II, Section 1.
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