Trump: ‘I’m Not Threatening’ Democrats

President Trump clarified remarks on Friday that had drawn criticism over his claim that Democrats who released a video aimed at service members had committed a crime “punishable by death.” Speaking with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, the president rejected accusations that he was advocating the execution of lawmakers.

“I’m not threatening death,” Trump said, according to the Guardian. “But I think they’re in serious trouble,” he added.

Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were reviewing the video, in which several Democratic lawmakers told service members they could “refuse illegal orders.” “They’re looking into it militarily,” Trump said. “I don’t know for a fact, but I think the military is looking into it, the military courts.” He added that his initial comments were meant to highlight that “in the old days, if you said a thing like that, that was punishable by death,” while lamenting that “it’s a meeker, milder world” now. “These are people that, in my opinion, broke the law. What happens to them, I can’t tell you.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was among those who condemned Trump’s earlier remarks. “The president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, calling the comments an “outright threat” and “deadly serious,” per CBS News.

One of the six Democrats involved in the video, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, also responded. “I would hope that people of all backgrounds—Democrat, Republican, independent—would agree that threatening death for people you disagree with is beyond the pale of who we are as Americans,” she said in a follow-up video. “I refuse to be intimidated out of defending the country I love.”

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