SAT . Thank you to Senator Elissa Slotkin for standing unbowed in the face of Trump’s violent threats, showing Americans what real courage and patriotism look like. Your fellow Americans — those who stand with the Constitution and the rule of law — have your back!

Thank you to Senator Elissa Slotkin for standing unbowed in the face of Trump’s violent threats, showing Americans what real courage and patriotism look like. Your fellow Americans — those who stand with the Constitution and the rule of law — have your back!

“Leadership climate is set from the top, and if the President is saying you should be hanged, then we shouldn’t be surprised when folks on the ground are going to follow suit and say even worse,” Senator Slotkin declared in an interview yesterday. “So I think for all of us, it has fundamentally changed our security situation. But I will say it doesn’t change how I feel about coming on TV now and talking about it or saying what I said today. I think it only strengthens that. He is trying to use fear as a weapon. He is trying to distract us from whatever he doesn’t want to talk about, the Epstein files or whatever else. But he’s also trying to intimidate people out of criticizing him. That’s the entire game here.”

Senator Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, along with five other Democratic lawmakers who are military veterans, released a 90-second video directly addressing U.S. service members and intelligence professionals. In the video, they reminded troops that they have both the right and the obligation to refuse orders that violate the law or the Constitution, warning that “this administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.” What the lawmakers said is entirely uncontroversial: it was simply a restatement of existing law under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which requires service members to follow lawful orders but holds them accountable for carrying out unlawful ones.

Trump’s response was shockingly extreme: this morning, he posted on Truth Social calling their message “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!!!” He then demanded that “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.” He also reposted a message from another user that read “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”

Trump’s threats against lawmakers who dare to criticize him echo the tactics of authoritarians like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Trump honored with a state dinner this week — the same leader the CIA found ordered the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi for criticizing his regime. His unhinged rant, which came as his approval rate fell to a meager 38%, has already had real-world consequences: Slotkin told reporters that she has received “hundreds and hundreds, if not, you know, closer to 1,000 threats,” adding that there has been a “huge spike in death threats and intimidation on our phones and on our emails and websites.” As a result, she has been assigned around-the-clock police protection by the U.S. Capitol Police.

Trump’s own violent rhetoric stands in stark contrast to his words following Charlie Kirk’s murder, when he declared that Americans and the media need to “confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree.” To many Americans, Trump’s words rang hollow.

Trump has referred to political opponents as “vermin” that needed to be “[rooted] out”; called judges “monsters”; and, in a Memorial Day social media post, described those Americans who oppose his policies as “scum” and accused them of “trying to destroy our country.” Trump’s highly charged language explicitly demonizes his political opponents such as when he described them as an “enemy from within” that is “more dangerous than China, Russia, and all those countries.”

His aggressive, divisive, and dehumanizing rhetoric toward those who disagree with him — often labelling them as “enemies” and “traitors” — is viewed by many experts as inflaming such extremism and contributing to the normalization of political violence. An analysis of Trump’s speeches over the past ten years by UCLA political scientists found that his use of violent language has increased over time and now surpasses that of nearly all other politicians studied from democratic countries.

In addition to his often extremist rhetoric, Trump has demonstrated a willingness to absolve acts of physical violence to advance his political interests. In a deeply troubling indication of his priorities, Trump made pardoning the January 6 attackers one of his very first acts upon returning to office. On his first day in office, Trump granted full pardons to all those convicted in the January 6 attack, over 1,500 rioters in total, including the 123 individuals charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to a police officer.

Equally concerning is how political violence, once unleashed, can become a pretext for authoritarian overreach. History shows that leaders with autocratic tendencies often exploit acts of political violence to justify crackdowns on civil liberties, suppress dissent, and consolidate power. From the Reichstag Fire that enabled Hitler’s rise to emergency powers, to modern strongmen who use security threats to silence opposition and restrict press freedoms, political violence creates a cycle where democratic norms erode from both ends.

A recent study by political scientist James Piazza found that countries where politicians used hate speech ‘often’ or ‘extremely often’ experienced an average of 107.9 domestic terrorist attacks compared to just 12.5 attacks in countries where politicians rarely used such language. Republican lawmakers have largely remained silent about or defended such rhetoric, despite warnings from security experts about its potential to inspire violence.

The scope of this crisis cannot be ignored. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, between 2016 and 2025, there were 25 attacks and threats targeting elected officials, political candidates, judges and government employees that were motivated by partisan beliefs. For comparison, only two such incidents were reported in the two previous decades. The increase in partisan attacks spans the ideological spectrum but has done little to lower the temperature in political rhetoric.

As Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat whose home was attacked and set ablaze in April while his family slept inside, observed this week: “[Trump] is actively encouraging political violence once again, ratcheting up the real risk of danger to our elected leaders and deepening the divides in our country. The sycophants and enablers the President surrounds himself with are quick to condemn language like this when it suits their political purposes — but in moments like this, they remain silent.”

In the face of these threats, Senator Slotkin directly addressed Trump’s violent threats and what they represent for American democracy. “This is about who we are as Americans and how we’re going to engage with people who we disagree with,” she declared. “I would hope that people of all backgrounds — Democrat, Republican, Independent — would agree that threatening death for people you disagree with is beyond the pale of who we are as Americans… I refuse to believe that this is the new normal.” She continued: “I’m not going to be forced away from speaking up on behalf of my country…. For me, I believe in the power of this country and that we are better than our current politics represent, and I refuse to be intimidated out of defending the country I love.”

The flames of discord from the nation’s highest office are emboldening violent extremism in our country. With Trump now making explicit threats toward elected officials, Americans and political leaders — across the political spectrum — must condemn these calls for violence. The stakes are too high for silence.

Thank you to Senator Elissa Slotkin and her fellow legislators for their moral courage and for fighting to keep this nation true to its best vision of itself! We stand with you!

To watch the legislators’ powerful video to the members of the military, visit https://www.facebook.com/reel/2558895077819811

For powerful books for tweens and teens about girls living in real-life oppressive societies throughout history where leaders often used hate and division to rule, visit our blog post “The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426

For books for tweens and teens about girls living under real-life authoritarian regimes throughout history that will help them appreciate how precious democracy truly is, visit our blog post “The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426

For more books for young readers that honor the service of women in the military, visit our blog post “The Price of Peace: A Mighty Girl Recognizes Veterans” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12356

To read more about Trump’s threats toward lawmakers, visit https://www.nytimes.com/…/trump-democrats-sedition…

Thanks to My UP Now for sharing this image!