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Democratic officials demonstrated anger after former President Donald Trump charged a coalition of Democratic congress members of being "turncoats" and asserted they should be detained and penalized "with execution" following their release of a contentious video.

The Content That Sparked the Controversy

The video footage, released on Tuesday, includes six Democratic elected officials who in the past served in defense or security roles.

"Similar to us, you all made an pledge to defend and uphold this founding document," 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 laws are unambiguous, you can decline illegal orders, you can refuse unlawful commands, you should decline improper directives. No one has to execute directives that contravene the statutes or our national charter."

Trump's Angry Reaction

The recorded statement appeared to trigger a angry reaction from the previous commander-in-chief.

On the following morning, Trump wrote on his social media platform: "This constitutes SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these betrayers to our United States should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL."

In a separate message, he stated: "This represents really concerning, and Risky to our Country. Their statements cannot be enabled to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???"

In a subsequent message, he added: "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" He also reposted a statement that said: "HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!"

Democratic Officials Respond

Following Trump's statements on Thursday, Democratic leadership published a unified announcement censuring the comments.

"Political violence has no role in this nation," they wrote. "Congress members who were featured in the video all served our nation with great patriotism and excellence. We strongly denounce Donald Trump's appalling and harmful calls for execution against congressional representatives, and call on GOP representatives to vigorously do the same."

The Democratic leaders also stated that they had been in communication with security officials "to make certain the protection of these officials and their relatives."

"Donald Trump must without delay delete these extreme online messages and retract his violent discourse before he causes harm," the announcement continued.

Officials' Strong Answer

The representatives who appeared in the video also published a statement.

"We are former service members and national security professionals who love this nation and made an pledge to protect and uphold the founding document of the United States," they said. "This commitment lasts a lifetime, and we intend to maintain it. No intimidation, intimidation, or call for violence will prevent us from that fundamental duty."

"The significant point is that the ex-president considers it liable to punishment by death for us to repeat the statutes," they stated. "Military personnel should know that we have their protection as they carry out their pledge to the founding principles and duty to adhere to only proper directives. It is not only the correct thing to do, but also our duty."

They stated: "All citizens must come together and censure the president's requests for our death and ideological conflict. This is a time for principled stance."

Further Partisan Responses

The Democratic Senate minority leader also censured Trump's remarks and shared on online networks: "We must be absolutely clear: the President of the United States is requesting the execution of public representatives."

He continued: "This is an direct THREAT. All senators, every Representative, all citizens – without partisan consideration – should censure this right away and absolutely."

The GOP leader defended Trump's claim that the Democrats had engaged in "rebellion", labeling the video as "extremely improper", stating: "This represents very risky, you have prominent officials of the government instructing soldiers to disobey orders, I think that is unprecedented in American history."

The Republican leader also according to sources informed the press that in what he read of Trump's posts, Trump was "defining the offense of rebellion" but that "legal experts have to parse the language and decide all that."

White House Reaction

During a executive branch meeting on Thursday afternoon, when asked by a journalist, "Is the president want to put to death members of Congress?", the executive branch representative responded: "Absolutely not."

"Let's be clear about what the president is addressing," the official said. "There are active officials of the federal government who coordinated to orchestrate a video message to individuals of the American armed forces, to serving soldiers encouraging them to defy the commander in chief's proper directives."

She said: "The purity of our armed forces relies on the command structure, and if that chain of command is violated, it can lead to fatalities, it can lead to chaos, and that is exactly what these members of Congress ... are basically encouraging."