White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted sitting members of Congress who participated in a video that she said sends a "dangerous message" to our 1.3 million active duty service members, telling them to defy orders that they deem to be unlawful.
During a White House press briefing on Thursday, Leavitt was asked about President Donald Trump's comments about the video, calling it "seditious behavior punishable by death" by the six Democrats in the video, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Reps. Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-6), Maggie Goodlander (NH-2), and Jason Crow (CO-6). All who are former members of either the military or the intelligence community, RedState reported.
.@PressSec: "The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos, and that’s what these members of Congress... are essentially encouraging." https://t.co/SX9fpzvTcX pic.twitter.com/cXfOiPyZC2
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 20, 2025
READ MORE: PBS Claims Military Officers Are Lawyering Up Over Trump's Orders but What's Really Happening?
MORE: Dem Lawmakers Urge Military, Intelligence Personnel to Defy Authority in Not-at-All Subtle Video
"Let's be clear what the president is responding to, because many in this room want to talk about the president's response, but not what brought the president responding in this way," Leavitt said. "You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president's lawful orders."
"The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos, and that's what these members of Congress... are essentially encouraging," she added.
The reporter pushed back, claiming that President Trump's comments were tantamount to encouraging political violence, and Leavitt let her have it.
.@PressSec COOKS Fake News reporter: "Why aren't you talking about what these members of Congress are doing to encourage and incite violence?... They're suggesting, Nancy, that @POTUS has given illegal orders, which he has NOT." https://t.co/1R9Qret1D7 pic.twitter.com/yhCMnUuvIV
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 20, 2025
"Why aren't you talking about what these members of Congress are doing to encourage and incite violence?... They're suggesting, Nancy, that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not," Leavitt said. "Every single order that is given to the U.S. military by this Commander in Chief and through this chain of command, through the Secretary of War, is lawful, and the courts have proven that."
"This administration has an unparalleled record at the Supreme Court," she added. "Because we are following the laws. We don't defy court orders. We do things by the book. And 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. And they should be held accountable. And that's what the president wants to see."
Later in the briefing, another reporter wanted to swing back around to the topic, and she called out the utter hypocrisy coming from those in the room who would lose their minds if this were happening the other way around.
.@PressSec: "If this were Republican Members of Congress who were encouraging members of the military and members of our U.S. government to defy orders from the President... this entire room would be up in arms — but instead, it is the other way around and I think that's quite… pic.twitter.com/XKbSvzbckl
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 20, 2025
"And if this were Republican Members of Congress who were encouraging members of the military and members of our U.S. government to defy orders from the President... this entire room would be up in arms," Leavitt said. "But instead, it is the other way around, and I think that's quite telling."
As my RedState colleague Bob Hoge reported, the video "Don't give up the ship" surfaced on Tuesday from Slotkin, using a military term from the 1800s.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r
Democrat hoaxes occupied a large portion of Trump's first time around; I'm praying he's learned a few things since then, so they can't do it again.
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