Democrats react after Trump called senators’ video ‘seditious’ and ‘punishable by death’
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Congressional Democratic leaders warned Thursday that President Donald Trump’s posts accusing several Democratic senators of sedition, which is “punishable by death,” will encourage political violence against lawmakers.
Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that the appearance of six congressional Democrats in a viral video calling on members of the military and the intelligence community to refuse to carry out “illegal” orders from senior officials was “really bad and dangerous for our country.”
“Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” Trump said. “Seditious behavior of traitors!!! Imprison them??? President DJT.”
Trump calls 6 Democrats who asked troops to reject illegal orders “traitors” who should be arrested
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., hold a news conference on the GOP reconciliation bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
He later posted: “Seditious behavior, punishable by death!” He reposted a user who wrote, “Hanging them George Washington will do.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that Trump was explicitly calling for “the execution of elected officials. This is a very clear and dangerous threat.”
“Every time Donald Trump posts things like this, he makes political violence more likely,” Schumer said.
He continued: “When Donald Trump uses the language of execution and treason, some of his supporters may listen carefully.” “He lights a match in a country saturated with political gasoline.”
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US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, United States on Thursday, November 6, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In a joint statement with the House Democratic Leadership Team, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., condemned Trump’s “disgusting and dangerous death threats against members of Congress” and urged House Republicans to follow suit.
“We have been in contact with the House Sergeant-at-Arms and the U.S. Capitol Police to ensure the safety of these members and their families,” Jeffries said. “Donald Trump should immediately delete these disruptive social media posts and retract his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.”
Trump’s posts, and the response from top Democrats in Congress, come after a video featuring Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Reps. Maggie Goodlander, D-North Carolina, Chrissy Holahan, D-Pa., Jason Crow, D-Colorado, and Chris DiLuzio, D-Pa., went viral for calling on military service members to refuse to follow illegal orders.
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Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) rehearses the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025 in Wyandotte, Michigan. (Paul Sancia-Paul/Getty Images)
Republicans and members of the Trump administration pounced on the video, some demanding lawmakers provide details.
The video came in the wake of growing questions among lawmakers about the legality of President Donald Trump’s authorization of strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, and in the wake of the administration’s deployment of the National Guard to blue cities across the country.
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It also follows a surge in political violence in the country over the past few years, particularly two assassination attempts against Trump, the assassination of Charlie Kirk and a significant increase in threats against members of Congress.
Fox News Digital reached out to each of the six Democrats in Congress and the White House for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.