November 20, 2025 12:42 PM UTC

Just POTUS Calling For A Colorado Congressman's Death

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• by: Colorado Pols

The President of the United States just called for my arrest and execution.

In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage:

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— Rep. Jason Crow (@crow.house.gov) November 20, 2025 at 12:15 PM

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As Politico reports, a video recorded by Democratic lawmakers with military service experience reminding members of the military of their legal obligation to refuse illegal orders has exploded into some of the harshest rhetoric yet from President Donald Trump, who is calling in response to this video for the arrest, trial, and not-metaphorical execution of lawmakers involved:

“We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now,” they said. “Americans trust their military. But that trust is at risk. 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 aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders.”

As part of a stated push to crack down on street crime and bolster deportations, Trump has federalized National Guard troops in American cities, including Washington, Chicago and Portland. Democratic officials have argued the president’s deployments constitute an illegal overreach of federal power and have sued to stop them…

For what we believe is the first time in all of Donald Trump’s years of notoriously overheated rhetoric that included calling for civil rights protesters to be shot in the legs, Trump is explicitly calling for the execution of members of Congress:

CNN reports that U.S. Capitol Police are now protecting the lawmakers in the video from…whatever might happen next, within or without:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team released a sharply worded statement against what they described as death threats from Trump against the lawmakers.

“We have been in contact with the House Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police to ensure the safety of these Members and their families. Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed,” they said in part.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is weighing its retaliatory options, which as readers know need not have any rational legal basis under the present administration:

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday that the Justice Department will be taking a “very close look” at those lawmakers’ actions, calling it a “disgusting and inappropriate display of supposed leadership from the Democrat Party.”

But coming back to the original question–was this video encouraging troops to disobery illegal orders inappropriate? As the Washington Post reports, it was not:

Traditionally, the U.S. military adheres to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which holds that service members must obey lawful orders, whether they agree with them or not. They are obligated to not follow “manifestly unlawful orders,” but such situations are rare and legally fraught.

The reason such situations are “rare and legally fraught” is that for most of our nation’s history, leadership issuing orders to the military have considered themselves bound by the law and not to individuals:

Members of the military take an oath to the Constitution, not the president. [Pols emphasis]

But as Colorado’s Rep. Jason Crow said in a joint response today to Trump’s death threats from everyone in the original video, the obligation to the Constitution over the whims and threats of a deranged man is paramount, for them and for all of us:

“We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation.”

“What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. 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.”

“But this isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity.” [Pols emphasis]

At a time when we regularly struggle for words to adequately capture the significance of news events that regularly feel dangerously unprecedented, while at the same time years of unhinged rhetoric has dulled our collective senses to the point that words lose their impact, offering commentary that meaningfully contributes to the reader’s understanding of what is happening is increasingly difficult. But when the President of the United States is calling for the literal execution of his political opponents, with a Justice Department at his disposal that has proven it will pursue Trump’s vendettas beyond the limit of the law…

How is this not a constitutional emergency of the highest order?

And what can be done to prevent what happens next?