In a ream of social media posts on Nov. 20, President Donald Trump accused a group of Democratic lawmakers who made a video telling servicemembers to resist illegal orders of "seditious behavior, punishable by death."

"It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL," Trump wrote. "Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand - We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET."

"SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" he added in a later post.

Trump also reposted a cascade of other angry posts calling the lawmakers "traitors" and "domestic terrorist Democrats" and another reading, "HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!"

His comments came after a group of six Democratic lawmakers put out a video directed at service members urging them to refuse illegal orders.

"You must refuse illegal orders," Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania said in the video.

"No one has to carry out orders that violate the law," Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said.

"...Or our constitution," Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania added. Sen. Mark Kelly and Reps. Maggie Goodlander and Jason Crow also appeared in the video statement.

The lawmakers did not specify what orders are illegal. Democrats have pointed toward Trump's deployment of the National Guard to American cities and his extrajudicial strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs as illegal.

Asked at a Nov. 20 news conference if Trump wants to execute members of Congress, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "No."

But the lawmakers who made the video could inspire chaos, incite violence and disrupt the chain of command, she said.

"These members knew what they were doing," Leavitt said, citing their national security credentials. "That is a very dangerous message, and it perhaps is punishable by law."

Democrats respond to Trump's posts

In a Nov. 20 speech on the Senate floor, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said Trump's posts should be taken as an "outright threat."

"Let's be crystal clear – the president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials. This is an outright threat, and it's deadly serious," he said.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, called Trump's post "chilling behavior."

"The administration should never try to force our servicemembers to carry out an illegal order," he wrote on X. "Calling for the execution of senators and Congressmembers for reminding our troops of that is chilling behavior."

"Every one of my Republican colleagues needs to swiftly condemn this."

Trump's calls to indict foes materialize

Trump has frequently used his Truth Social platform to call for his enemies to be charged and tried. In recent months, some of those threats have become reality as several of his longtime foes have been served indictments that Trump roundly celebrated.

James Comey, Trump's former FBI director who he fired in 2017 for investigating his alleged ties to Russia, was indicted by a federal grand jury in September on charges that he lied during testimony five years earlier.

Comey is "now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation," Trump wrote on social media after the indictment.

Comey has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled for Jan. 5.

Trump also celebrated the Oct. 9 indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office sued Trump in 2022 on financial fraud charges.

Weeks before, in a Truth Social post directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump had called for James, Comey and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff to face legal action. "We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility."

John Bolton, another former Trump official-turned-enemy, was indicted in mid-October on charges that he mishandled classified documents.

"I think he's a bad guy," Trump said after the indictment. "It's too bad, but that's the way it goes."

Trump has also railed against judges who have stymied his agenda and, in at least one case, called for them to be charged.

When a federal judge ordered his administration to stop the deportation of hundreds of mostly Venezuelan men to a brutal prison in El Salvador in March, Trump reposted an article accusing "activist judges" of "sedition and treason."

This story has been updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy and to add new information.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump accuses six Democratic lawmakers of 'seditious behavior, punishable by death'

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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