U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal slammed President Donald Trump for calling a video published by Democratic lawmakers “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
“I’ve never seen anything like what the president said yesterday,” Murphy said during a press conference in Hartford on Friday morning. “The president made a threat of execution against his political opponents.”
On Thursday, a video posted to X featured six Democratic lawmakers — all veterans of the military and intelligence services — addressing U.S. service members and encouraging them to protect the Constitution, even if that means defying orders.
“Americans trust their military, but that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers said in a video montage. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution. We know this is hard and that it’s a difficult time to be a public servant.”
The legislators featured in the video were Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire.
While the video did not point to any specific “illegal” order, it came in the wake of Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities, and in the midst of U.S. military airstrikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific, which the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said violated international law.
Trump on Thursday responded with a slew of posts on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Insurrection. TREASON!” read one post. “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” read another.
The president also reposted a comment by another user that read, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
During an appearance on Fox News on Friday, Trump walked back those comments, saying he wasn’t calling for the lawmakers’ execution. “I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble,” Trump said.
Connecticut Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said he didn’t agree with the president’s comments, but he believed people on both sides of the aisle have contributed to the growing political violence in the country.
“I would not say those comments. No one should be calling for anyone’s death,” Harding said. “We need to tamp down the rhetoric on both sides. Period.”
Blumenthal said Trump’s irresponsible comments stood in direct contrast to the sentiments he expressed after the murder of Charlie Kirk, when there were bipartisan calls to bring down the heat on political rhetoric. The senator also said he was worried Trump’s comments risked inciting violence among his most loyal supporters.
“It isn’t just that he is threatening public officials with death and violence. He is inflaming and encouraging his extremist followers,” Blumenthal said. “He is normalizing violence in this country. That is reprehensible for any public official, but particularly for the leader of the United States.”
On Thursday, Murphy posted a strongly-worded video to X calling on the wealthy and powerful who have “been sitting on the sidelines” to take a stand. “If you’re a person of influence in this country, maybe it’s time to pick a [expletive] side,” Murphy said.
On Friday morning, he reiterated that stance.
“This is a moment to put your country and your democracy before your financial wellbeing,” Murphy said. “I don’t want to be in a world where death threats from the president of the United States become normalized and become background noise.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.