Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan on Sunday condemned President Trump’s assertion that several Democratic lawmakers should face the death penalty over a video urging U.S. military members to reject unlawful orders.
Ms. Slotkin, a former CIA officer, said she will continue speaking about concerns within the military and intelligence community about the administration’s overstepping of legal boundaries.
“Leadership climate is set at the top, so if the president is saying things like that you can imagine people on the ground, what they’re doing,” Ms. Slotkin said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I have been through dangerous situations before, so it doesn’t change my feelings about speaking my mind, but obviously, the president took issue with one sentence in a video and was calling for our death. I think that is inappropriate, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or independent.”
Ms. Slotkin said she does not have any examples of illegal orders. Still, she said that the administration is performing some “legal gymnastics” around the military strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean. She also noted that the courts have ruled against the Trump administration’s deployment of the military into US cities.
She accused Mr. Trump of attempting to weaponize the Department of Justice against political rivals, calling his rhetoric “a tool of fear” meant to silence dissent.
Ms. Slotkin and several other Democratic lawmakers posted a video last week urging military and intelligence officers to “refuse illegal orders” from the Trump administration.
“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law,” Ms. Slotkin said in the video, which also featured Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and other former members of the military and intelligence community.
Mr. Trump called the Democrats “traitors” and said they “should be in jail right now.” “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he posted on Truth Social.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt criticized the lawmakers for suggesting the president has given illegal orders, “which he has not.”
“Every single order that is given to this United States military by this commander-in-chief, and through this chain of command, through the secretary of war, is lawful,” Ms. Leavitt said.
Ms. Slotkin’s office on Friday said Michigan State Police officers responded to a bomb threat at the senator’s home. She was not home at the time.
