President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that Democratic lawmakers who urged service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders should be put to death, sparking an outcry among Democrats on Capitol Hill that the president was seeking to incite violence.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, responding to a video from half a dozen members of Congress who previously served in the military and intelligence community urging people currently in those roles to “refuse illegal orders.”
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump wrote. He also reposted several other users’ posts, including one that read: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
The comments drew a swift rebuke from Democrats, who condemned Trump’s comments as an attempt to incite violence, and even drew the scrutiny of members in his own party.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally who served as a lawyer for the military reserves, said the president’s remarks were “over the top,” though he also said he considered the Democrats’ video “despicable.” And GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said he didn’t think it was “really a good idea to talk about jailing your political opponents, or hanging them, or whatever else.”
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
