White House accuses Democrats of urging military and services to 'engage in rebellion' against Trump
Donald Trump. Photo credit: BONNIE CASH / UPI / Profimedia
The White House criticized, on Wednesday, the call launched by six Democratic congressmen to military and intelligence personnel to refuse the “illegal orders” they receive from the administration led by Republican President Donald Trump, reports AFP.
“Top Democrats are openly calling on CIA and military officials to engage in rebellion against their commander-in-chief. Don't underestimate how dangerously radicalized the Democratic Party has become,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said in a post on the X platform.
The Democrats' statements were also criticized by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, in a reaction to Stephen Miller's post, in which he described the call as “Stage 4 of TDS”, or “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, a phrase used by the right to mock the president's opponents.
“You can refuse illegal orders”
The group of Democratic senators and members of the House of Representatives, all of whom have military or intelligence backgrounds, said in a video posted on X on Tuesday that “this administration is pitting military and intelligence community professionals in uniform against American citizens.”
“Right now, threats to our constitution come not only from abroad, but right here at home,” they said, adding, “You can refuse illegal orders.”
Democrats did not say which order they were referring to, but the Trump administration has been criticized for both how it uses the U.S. military at home and how it acts abroad.
In the United States, Trump has ordered the National Guard into several American cities, in many cases against the wishes of local officials, who have fought back with court challenges.
Abroad, the president has ordered strikes against vessels that the US administration accuses of being involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. US military operations have resulted in more than 80 deaths since September.
Some experts say the attacks are illegal and amount to extrajudicial executions, even if they target known traffickers.
Among the congressmen who appeared in the video posted on X were Senator Mark Kelly, a former US Marine and NASA astronaut, and Senator Elissa Slotkin, who worked for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Iraq.
