White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that President Trump does not want to execute members of Congress who urged the military not to follow unlawful orders, but that he wants to see them “held accountable.”
Trump earlier Thursday responded to a video made by six Democrats with military and intelligence backgrounds, calling it “seditious behavior from traitors” and later posting “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
“No,” Leavitt said. “Many in this room want to talk about the president’s response, but not what brought the president to responding in this way.”
Leavitt disputed that the president had given any illegal orders and accused the lawmakers of inciting violence.
“To suggest and encourage that active duty service members defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do,” Leavitt added. “And they should be held accountable. And that’s what the president wants to see.”
The video featured Sens. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), and Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio (Pa.) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.), all of whom have served in the military or as intelligence officers.