WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he is “not threatening to kill” a group of Democratic members of Congress whom he accused of engaging in “seditious behavior,” which he said a day earlier was “punishable by death.”
“In the old days, if you said something like that, it was punishable by death,” Trump said in an interview Friday on conservative Brian Kilmeade’s radio show when asked to clarify what he meant.
The president’s latest comments come after he issued the charge and warning Thursday after Democratic lawmakers, many of whom are veterans, released a video urging members of the military and intelligence community not to follow illegal orders.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who previously worked at the CIA and the Department of Defense, shared the video of herself and other former members of the military and intelligence community on Tuesday.
“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution come not only from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can reject illegal orders. You must reject illegal orders,” they said. “No one has to execute orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
The other participants included Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Reps. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Jason Crow of Colorado.
Trump responded to her video message in several posts on Truth Social, including one in which he said, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also reposted other posts, such as one that said, “Hang them, George Washington would do it.”
The president denied threatening members of Congress. “I think they’re in deep trouble. I would say they’re in deep trouble. I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in deep trouble. In the old days, it was death. That was seditious behavior.”
Slotkin, Kelly, Crow, Deluzio, Houlahan and Goodlander did not immediately respond to requests for comment in response to Trump’s claim Friday that he was not making a death threat.
Trump said the lawmakers who appeared in the video “broke the law,” adding, “I can say that if I had ever said that and there was a Democrat as president, all hell would have broken loose. And it has.” The president said he believes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is investigating the situation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday rejected the idea that the president was calling for the execution of members of Congress. “No,” she said when asked that question, later adding that the Democrats’ comments are “a very, very dangerous message and perhaps punishable by law. I’m not a lawyer. I’ll leave that to the Department of Justice and the Department of War to decide.”
Crow, who served in the military, told reporters at the Capitol on Friday that he was “absolutely” receiving more threats since Trump’s posts.
“You know, when the president of the United States tweets death threats and says the things he says, you know, that stirs things up a lot,” Crow said. “But again, I’m not going to be incredibly intimidated and I’m certainly not going to change my approach.”
ryan nobles and Kyle Stewart contributed.
