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Democratic officials demonstrated fury after former President Donald Trump alleged a coalition of Democratic legislators of being "traitors" and asserted they should be arrested and penalized "by death" following their posting of a disputed video.

The Message That Triggered the Controversy

The video footage, published on Tuesday, showcases six Democratic congress members who formerly served in armed forces or intelligence capacities.

"Like us, you all swore an pledge to protect and defend this national charter," the officials declared in the brief video. "And right now, the dangers to our democratic foundation don't only come from abroad, but from domestically. Our regulations are unambiguous, you can decline illegal orders, you can reject unlawful commands, you must refuse unlawful commands. No one has to execute commands that break the statutes or our constitution."

The Former President's Angry Response

The clip reportedly trigger a angry reaction from the former president.

On Thursday morning, Trump posted on his social media platform: "It's called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Nation should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL."

In another publication, he declared: "This represents really concerning, and Harmful to our United States. Their comments cannot be permitted to persist. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???"

In a third publication, he stated: "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" He also shared a comment that read: "HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!"

Democratic Officials Respond

Following Trump's comments on that day, Democratic leadership published a unified declaration censuring the statements.

"Violent politics has no place in this nation," they declared. "Representatives who appeared in the video all acted our nation with great national pride and distinction. We clearly censure Donald Trump's appalling and dangerous calls for execution against elected officials, and appeal to GOP representatives to strongly do the same."

The opposition officials also stated that they had been in communication with law enforcement "to ensure the security of these members and their relatives."

"Donald Trump must immediately delete these radical digital publications and retract his violent language before he causes harm," the statement stated.

Lawmakers' Defiant Reaction

The officials who were featured in the video also published a declaration.

"We identify as ex-military personnel and defense specialists who love this country and took an vow to protect and support the founding document of the United States," they stated. "Our pledge is permanent, and we intend to keep it. No warning, coercion, or promotion of aggression will deter us from that sacred obligation."

"The significant point is that the ex-president considers it subject to penalty by execution for us to repeat the law," they stated. "Armed forces members should understand that we have their protection as they fulfill their vow to the national charter and duty to obey only proper directives. It is not only the proper thing to do, but also our responsibility."

They added: "The entire nation must come together and denounce the ex-president's requests for our death and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity."

Additional Partisan Responses

The Senate Democratic leader also condemned Trump's remarks and shared on social media: "It's important to understand: the former president is requesting the death of public representatives."

He added: "This is an direct THREAT. All senators, all representatives, the entire nation – regardless of party – should censure this without delay and absolutely."

The Republican House speaker justified Trump's claim that the Democrats had been involved in "treason", characterizing the video as "highly unsuitable", commenting: "This represents very harmful, you have important representatives of the government advising soldiers to ignore directives, I think that's without precedent in the nation's past."

The Conservative representative also reportedly informed journalists that in what he reviewed of Trump's messages, Trump was "defining the offense of sedition" but that "lawyers have to parse the wording and decide all that."

Administration Response

During a administration briefing on later that day, when inquired by a journalist, "Is the president want to kill members of Congress?", the White House press secretary answered: "Absolutely not."

"It's important to note about what the president is addressing," the official declared. "We see sitting members of the US Congress who coordinated to orchestrate a video message to individuals of the American armed forces, to serving soldiers advising them to defy the executive's legal commands."

She stated: "The sanctity of our armed forces depends on the command structure, and if that chain of command is broken, it can cause people getting killed, it can lead to confusion, and that's what these members of Congress ... are essentially supporting."