Minnesota Sen. Erin Maye Quade denounced President Trump after he called six Democrats "traitors" and suggested their urging of troops to refuse unlawful orders could be treated as sedition punishable by death. Quade tied the president’s rhetoric to politically motivated threats she said have targeted Minnesota Democrats. The president’s remarks responded to a video by lawmakers with military backgrounds urging service members that they may refuse illegal orders. Democrats condemned Trump’s language as dangerous, while the White House said he sought accountability, not executions.
Minnesota Senator Says Trump’s ‘Seditious’ Remarks Are ‘F‑‑‑ing Dangerous’
Minnesota Sen. Erin Maye Quade denounced President Trump after he called six Democrats "traitors" and suggested their urging of troops to refuse unlawful orders could be treated as sedition punishable by death. Quade tied the president’s rhetoric to politically motivated threats she said have targeted Minnesota Democrats. The president’s remarks responded to a video by lawmakers with military backgrounds urging service members that they may refuse illegal orders. Democrats condemned Trump’s language as dangerous, while the White House said he sought accountability, not executions.
04:03 AM, 11/21/2025Politics
Minnesota state Sen. Erin Maye Quade (D) sharply condemned President Trump after he publicly labeled six Democratic lawmakers “traitors” and suggested their call for service members to refuse unlawful orders could amount to sedition and even be "punishable by death." Quade called the president’s remarks "f‑‑‑ing dangerous" and tied them to a string of politically motivated threats she says have targeted Minnesota Democrats.
In posts on the social platform Bluesky, Quade wrote that "a Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic lawmakers FIVE MONTHS AGO," and said the attacker had killed House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and attempted to kill Rep. John Hoffman and his wife. Quade said she herself was on the alleged hit list and asked, "Where is the bottom?? I cannot describe how f‑‑‑ing dangerous this is." These statements reflect Quade's account and concerns about politically motivated violence shared on social media.
On Wednesday, President Trump shared a link to a story about Democrats urging members of the military to disobey unlawful orders and wrote that the Democrats' stance was "really bad, and Dangerous for our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???" He followed the post with a second message: "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"
The president was responding to a short video produced by a group of Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence experience in which they told active-duty personnel, "Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders." Participants in the video included Sens. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), and Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio (Pa.) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.).
"What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. "Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty."
In their statement the group urged Americans to unite in condemning rhetoric that they said encourages violence: "Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity."
Sen. Slotkin referenced past deployments of U.S. troops in American cities during heightened federal responses to crime and immigration, and she called for public testimony from Homeland Security and Defense officials about such deployments. House Democratic leaders also denounced the president’s posts as "disgusting and dangerous death threats."
The White House responded that the president was not calling for executions but was demanding that those he criticized be held accountable. The exchange has intensified debate over political rhetoric, threats of violence, and the responsibilities of public officials to avoid inflaming tensions.