Trump breaks down his ‘punishable by death’ threat to ‘seditious’ Democrats for Fox News host

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Trump was asked about his ultimate punishment comments, which set off a firestorm of concern, by host Brian Kilmeade on his radio show Friday

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President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to walk back his demand for a group of six Democratic lawmakers to be executed for what he called “seditious behavior” just a day earlier, telling a right-wing media personality he was speaking of practices in times long past.

The president had taken to Truth Social on Thursday to accuse Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, plus Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander and Pennsylvania’s Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of engaging in “seditious behavior at the highest level.”

Trump further called the members of Congress — all of whom are military or intelligence veterans — “traitors to our country” who should be “arrested and put on trial” after they filmed a video urging American service members to “refuse illegal orders” and uphold their oaths to the U.S. Constitution.

He later posted a different message in which he repeated his all-caps accusation of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” from the lawmakers before claiming that such “behavior” is “punishable by DEATH.”

The attack drew widespread condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans in Congress and in national security circles who cited it as just the latest example of the president demanding that the power of the government he leads be turned against members of the political opposition who criticize him, even implicitly.

But a day later, Trump appeared to backpedal the attack during an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on his talk radio program. Asked to clarify his comments, Trump told Kilmeade: “In the old days, if you said a thing like that, that was punishable by death.”

He then denied having ever threatened the legislators despite having also reposted a Truth Social user who urged him to “HANG” the Democrats who’d appeared in the video.

"I think they’re in serious trouble. I would say they’re in serious trouble. I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days, it was death. That was seditious behavior,” he said.

It’s unclear what, if any, legal grounds would exist to prosecute the representatives and senators for urging service members not to follow illegal orders, as legislators enjoy broad immunity for statements and other acts taken in their official capacities.

Not only does the First Amendment provide broad protection for political speech, the United States has not had laws criminalizing speech against the government as “sedition” on the books since Congress repealed the First World War-era Sedition Act in 1920.

While there is a section of the U.S. criminal code that prohibits “seditious conspiracy” — a rarely used charge last employed against pro-Trump rioters who participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — that provision only applies to conspiracies to “levy war against the government,” "oppose the government of the United States by force,” or "prevent, hinder, or delay" the execution of any law by force.”

Despite Trump’s claim that “seditious behavior” is a capital offense, in fact that U.S. criminal code only provides for a punishment of imprisonment for “not more than 20 years” if convicted for a seditious conspiracy involving violence or the threat of force.

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