It was not just another of his many tirades. Never in the history of the United States has a president called for the execution of lawmakers elected by the people. Yet Trump is closing out the week by endorsing the hanging of senators and congressional representatives.
His latest severe threat to the people of the United States began after six Democratic lawmakers, most of whom are veterans, published a video reminding those who serve in the military that they are duty-bound, under the military code and the law, not to obey unlawful orders from the president.
They were Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona (Navy) and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan (CIA), and Reps. Chris DeLuzio of Pennsylvania (Navy), Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire (Navy Reserve), Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania (Air Force), and Jason Crow of Colorado (Army).
Everything said in the video they issued was perfectly legal and, given the current and past actions of the Trump administration, totally appropriate. They said the Trump administration “is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.”
One need only see how National Guard troops have been illegally sent into the nation’s cities as enforcers of Trump’s edicts. Often those troops come from the communities they have been illegally sent to police despite court orders, disobeyed by Trump, that what he is doing is illegal. They don’t want to engage in “policing” their neighbors and friends who are involved in nothing more than peaceful demonstrations.
The delay by the right-wing majority Supreme Court in hearing appeals to the rulings that declare the illegality of the troop placements makes the criminal use of the military by Trump even worse.
No one can forget how he once told his top general to shoot unarmed peaceful protesters in the legs. Fortunately, the military told him at that time that they could not carry out that order because it was illegal.
And for the last several weeks Trump has ordered the military to illegally bomb, shoot, and kill alleged drug traffickers in international Caribbean waters while he plans an illegal invasion of Venezuela. The president of Mexico has pointed out that he illegally entered Mexican territory with men who posted signs claiming control over her country’s territory near the border.
And now, of course, he makes false charges of treason against lawmakers and calls for their execution.
The lawmakers he wants to have killed correctly said to those currently in the military, “Like us, you swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution,” and they stated that “right now the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home.”
Those threats, unlike any we have heard in U.S. history, are coming from the president of the United States, who, in addition to calling for and carrying out illegal acts, is trying to choke off the sources of news about his crimes.
Some major news outlets have openly capitulated to his demands that they not print or put out news unfavorable to Trump. But even the New York Times, which has not openly joined that group, seems to be caving recently.
When seven million Americans demonstrated during the latest No Kings Day, for instance, they hid the story on page 23 of their print issue. And when Trump issued his call to execute lawmakers this week, there was no mention of that news anywhere in the Times print issue of the day. Had any other president done anything nearly as outrageous as this, the “paper of record” would have used up their entire first page to tell of the threat to the nation.
The lawmakers in question correctly told the members of the military, “You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.” The video ended with a call to stand up “for our laws, our Constitution” and the message, “Don’t give up the ship.”
Republican opposition to Trump’s call for execution was very mild at best and missing altogether in most cases.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the video “Stage 4 Trump derangement syndrome.” The derangement of Trump himself, obvious now to millions, was not mentioned by the self-named “Secretary of War.”
On Fox News, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., like many other Republicans, lied about what the lawmakers actually said: “It is inconceivable that you would have elected officials that are saying to uniformed members of the military who have taken an oath that they should defy the orders that they have been given to execute their mission.”
Again, the lawmakers did no such thing. They urged people to obey orders from superiors unless those orders were illegal.
On Thursday morning, the president, on his Truth Social account, posted a link to an article about the video and wrote, “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP??? President DJT.”
After that, Trump got continually worse. He reposted comments from right-wingers as they came onto his Truth Social site. Those comments called the video by the lawmakers “treasonous” and urged “arrest them.” Other users of decried the video as “insurrection,” with some calling the Democrats “domestic terrorists.”
Among the posts Trump boosted was one that exclaimed, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!” After that, Trump himself said the Democrats deserve execution, writing: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.”
It is easy to forget that Trump has a penchant, in true tyrannical fashion, to call for execution of anyone who dares to criticize him. Two years ago, he said that Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was a traitor who should be executed. His own hapless former vice president, Mike Pence, had to watch as Trump pardoned the people who demanded that he be hung during the Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt.
Trump’s latest death threat presents an immediate danger to the lawmakers he has demonized. They have had to step up security measures for themselves and their families. Even Marjorie Taylor Green—long one of his most loyal mouthpieces in Congress—is now being branded a traitor by Trump, and she says she has, as a result, been also facing death threats. When asked about the death threats to Green, Trump said, “I don’t think anybody cares about her.”
When he wined and dined the autocratic Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia at the White House this week and a reporter asked the Crown Prince about his role in killing Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, Trump simply said of the murdered man, “a lot of people didn’t really like him anyway.”
After Trump’s threats against the lawmakers, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said, “If you’re a person of influence in this country and you haven’t picked a side, maybe now would be the time to pick a fucking side.”
The latest Trump outrage is much more than just one more tirade. When a fascist and an autocrat demands the killing of people who dare to oppose him, it must be taken with seriousness and resolve to fight back.
People’s World is proud to be one of the news outlets that will not back down from exposing a president who will go down in history as the worst person to ever occupy the White House.
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