Trump says he was not threatening death to Democrats over video to troops

US President Donald Trump has sought to clarify that he was “not threatening death” against Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging military members to refuse unlawful commands.

His remarks to Fox News on Friday came after bipartisan condemnation of Trump’s earlier social media post accusing the Democrats of “seditious behaviour, punishable by death”.

The six lawmakers, all of whom have served in the military or intelligence community, called Trump’s remarks dangerous and said they amounted to threats against elected officials.

The row comes amid heightened concern about politically motivated attacks in the US, following a rise in instances of violence against political figures.

“LOCK THEM UP???” he asked in one post on his social media platform, Truth Social on Thursday, before sharing someone else’s post that read: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”

Following his social media posts, Trump told Fox News in a radio interview on Friday: “I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble.”

“If you look at sedition”, Trump continued, “that’s a form of, a very strong form of being a traitor. It’s a terrible thing to say, I must tell you.”

Trump also suggested the US defence secretary and US deputy attorney general were looking into the matter.

The video by Democrats, which was shared by Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, features Senator Mark Kelly and Representatives Chris DeLuzio, Maggie Goodlander, Chrissy Houlahan and Jason Crow.

In it Kelly, who served in the Navy and is a former astronaut, says: “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the video says.

“Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home.”

Trump reacted to the video in a series of irate Truth Social posts on Thursday, accusing the lawmakers of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL”.

“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” he wrote. “An example MUST BE SET.”

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said “the words that the president chose are not the ones that I would use”, and defended Trump, saying he was simply “defining the crime of sedition”.

Johnson called the Democrats’ video “wildly inappropriate” and “very dangerous”.

Asked on Friday if Trump had a responsibility to tone down hostility in US politics, Johnson said: “I don’t think you can put the blame on the president for any of that, the rhetoric is heated all the way around.”

“They are literally saying to 1.3 million active duty service members to defy the chain of command, not to follow lawful orders,” Leavitt added. “It perhaps is punishable by law.”

The six Democratic lawmakers said in a joint statement: “No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation.”

Since World War Two, many members of the US military have embraced the “duty to disobey” – refusing to carry out an order that is unlawful – and the idea is being discussed more in the civilian realm as Trump’s deployments of National Guard troops to US cities face legal challenges.

Under the US military’s code of justice, a member of the armed services can refuse to follow “a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime” or one that goes against the US Constitution, which service members swear to uphold when they join the military.

Leaders in the US House of Representatives said they were working with Capitol Police to adequately protect the lawmakers – and their families – who courted Trump’s ire.

In regards to Trump’s Truth Social posts, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “I don’t agree with that”, but called the Democrats’ message to the military “unnecessary” and “provocative”.

“Donald Trump has made political violence a feature of his politics,” the top Democrat in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, said on X. “No president has encouraged violence the way this president has.”

Most Americans consider violence in politics to be on the rise, regardless of their party affiliation.

An October Pew Research Center study found 85% of Americans believe politically motivated violence is increasing, a trend echoed in a November Politico and Public First poll.

Trump, himself, was targeted in two alleged assassination attempts – one at a rally during his presidential campaign last year that left one person dead, as well as Trump and several others injured.

Just this year there have been a number of high-profile incidents, including the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, an arson attack on Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home, and the killing of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband.

In the wake of Kirk’s murder, many conservatives including Trump spoke out against Democrats, arguing they were responsible for the growing political violence in the US.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene recently said she had received an increased number of threats since a public rift with Trump over some of his policies. Their feud boiled over last week when Trump posted several times about her, calling her “wacky” and a “traitor”. Her son also received a death threat, according to local police.

More public officials are reporting attempts at swatting – making prank calls to emergency services to deploy a Swat team – in recent months.

That includes an Indiana Republican who was the focus of a separate Truth Social attack from the president, over his stance on redistricting in the state.

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