After six Democratic lawmakers released a video encouraging active members of the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders,” as they are required by law, many right-wing media figures claimed that they are committing “treason,” fomenting “sedition or insurrection,” and trying to “trigger a military coup.” Some also called for “every traitor Democrat” who made the video to be arrested and court-martialed. On his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump called the video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” and suggested it is “punishable by DEATH!”
Molly Butler / Media Matters
Research/Study
Right-wing media figures are calling a recent video from Democratic lawmakers “treason” and “sedition”
Sean Hannity: The video that encourages military members to defy illegal orders “is unlawful, a brazen act of subversion against our country”
Written by Gideon Taaffe & Jack Winstanley
Research contributions from Isabella Corrao & Alex Kaplan
Published
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Trump called for some Democratic lawmakers to be arrested after they released a video advising active military and intelligence community members not to obey unlawful orders
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- Several Democrats who previously served in the U.S. military or intelligence community put out a video urging current members to disobey “illegal orders.” The lawmakers in the video include Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), as well as Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). [CNN, 11/19/25]
- The video comes as many have questioned the legality of the Trump administration's attacks on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean. Some allies have already stopped sharing intelligence with the U.S. that they fear could make them complicit in an illegal strike. Slotkin and Kelly both said they had concerns for active duty troops who may be legally liable for obeying an illegal order. [CNN, 11/11/25; The New York Times, 11/18/25]
- President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of “seditious behavior” and called for them to be “arrested and put on trial.” Trump shared a post about the video from the Washington Examiner and wrote, “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. 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. President DJT.” He later posted, “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” and wrote, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” [Truth Social, 11/20/25, 11/20/25, 11/20/25]
- Service members are required to disobey illegal orders, and they can be prosecuted if they obey “manifestly unlawful” orders. “I’m not telling people to ignore orders,” Houlahan clarified to Fox News. “You have an obligation to know and respect your chain of command. You do have, however, a chain of command that you can go through where you can elevate those requests if you believe them not to be either lawful or appropriate, and that’s what I’m encouraging, and my colleagues are encouraging people to do.” [Military Times, 8/14/25; Fox News, 11/19/25]
- Fox News legal contributor Andy McCarthy pushed back against accusations Democrats are encouraging insurrection, noting, “Disobeying an unlawful order is required.” McCarthy wrote, “There is no insurrection or sedition without the use of force. Disobeying a lawful order is insubordination, not insurrection or sedition. Disobeying an unlawful order is required.” [Twitter/X, 11/20/25]
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Right-wing media figures accused participating lawmakers of committing “treason,” fomenting “sedition or insurrection”, trying to “trigger a military coup” and said they “can be court martialed”
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- Podcaster Laura Loomer shared that “Trump just re posted a post on Truth Social calling for seditious Democrat Senators to be hung for calling on members of the military to defy President Trump’s orders as Commander in Chief,” adding, “Trump is right.” Her post also argued, “That’s the type of justice Americans want to see.” [Twitter/X, 11/20/25]
- Right-wing social media influencer Chaya Raichik, who runs the account Libs of TikTok, claimed that the Democrats are encouraging military members “to commit treason.” The full post stated: “BREAKING: Elected Democrats just released a video encouraging members of the military to commit treason and DEFY orders from Trump and Hegseth.” [The Washington Post, 4/19/22; Twitter/X, 11/18/25]
- Fox News host Will Cain and right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly both called the video “insurrection-y.” [Fox News, The Will Cain Show, 11/18/25; SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 11/19/25]
- Former Trump strategist and War Room host Steve Bannon claimed the video will “live in infamy” and accused the Democrats of fomenting “sedition or insurrection.” Bannon added, “They are trying to insert themselves — I don't know, sedition or insurrection — to actually talk to the troops, to insert themselves between the military and the commander-in-chief.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 11/20/25]
- Fox News host Sean Hannity claimed that the video “is unlawful, a brazen act of subversion against our country.” Hannity said that Democrats “appear to want a military coup in our country to take place. At this point, these Democrats, they might as well try to breach the walls of the White House and break down the doors like their radical supporters did all throughout the summer of love, during the rioting in the summer of 2020 that they said were mostly peaceful.” [Fox News, Hannity, 11/18/25]
- Fox anchor Harris Faulkner said it “would be treason” for military members to defy illegal orders. [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 11/19/25]
- Daily Caller editorial director and Rumble streamer Vince Coglianese stated that Democrats are “encouraging the troops to engage in sedition pretty openly now, which is completely insane.” [Rumble, VINCE, 11/19/25]
- On Fox News, right-wing political analyst Katie Zacharia claimed the video “rises to the level of insurrection.” Zacharia: “They are telling our military to actively disobey the commander-in-chief without citing an illegal order. This is, in my opinion, rises to the level of insurrection, because they are telling them [to] break the law and tell them do not follow your president, do not follow your commander-in-chief.” She continued, “This type of behavior rises to the level of expulsion.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 11/20/25]
- On The Five, co-host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery claimed that Democrats “are trying to trigger a military coup, which would throw us into a constitutional crisis, which would then mean that they were turning their backs on the oath that they swore to the Constitution themselves.” She argued, “There is a very, very big difference between what the commander-in-chief has deemed to be lawful and constitutional and what Democrats dislike.” [Fox News, The Five, 11/19/25]
- Fox host Laura Ingraham suggested that the video was “tantamount to encouraging an insurrection.” Ingraham added, “The fact that Democrats can so cavalierly encourage military members to actively defy their commander-in-chief, that just demonstrates that they are either too stupid to know they are encouraging rebellion or they are actively trying to encourage rebellion, and that’s blood in the streets.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 11/19/25]
- On Newsmax, host Chris Plante admitted that “everybody in the military knows they are required to not follow illegal orders” but suggested the Democrats in that video “can be recalled to active duty and they can be court-martialed” and “stripped of their VA benefits, of their retirement benefits, because they’re engaging in insurrection here.” Panelist Ashley Brasfield, a reporter for The Daily Caller, responded, “Insurrection is exactly right. What they’re basically calling for, to me, is treason.” [Newsmax, Right Squad, 11/19/25]
- Right-wing influencer Phillip Buchanan, who posts on social media under the moniker “Catturd,” shared Trump’s Truth Social posts and wrote: “It’s 100% sedition. This cannot be allowed to stand. Arrest every traitor Democrat who made the video.” [Daily Dot, 7/25/23; Twitter/X, 11/20/25]
- Discussing a post from Trump adviser Stephen Miller claiming the video called for “rebellion” and “insurrection,” Infowars host Harrison Smith said the Democratic lawmakers “have committed a felony, put their name to it, and the best we can hope for is the Trump administration — who we’ve empowered specifically to go after these people — will put memes on X and complain about it on X.” [Infowars, War Room, 11/19/25]
- LindellTV host Emerald Robinson shared the video from Slotkin and wrote that Democrats are “fomenting an insurrection,” adding, “We're headed for civil war.” Robinson wrote, “Does anyone in the Trump Admin have the balls to arrest elected representatives fomenting an insurrection? I doubt it. These people aren't scared of Susie Wiles & her crew who just talk talk talk & do nothing. We're headed for civil war.” [Twitter/X, 11/20/25]
- Far-right outlet The Gateway Pundit published a blog titled “Outrageous! Six Congressional Democrats Call for ‘Soft Coup,’ Demand Members of the Military Commit Treason and DEFY Orders from President Trump.” [The Gateway Pundit, 11/18/25]