CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings unloaded on the group of Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video urging military and intelligence personnel not to follow “illegal orders” under a future Trump administration — a message that prompted President Donald Trump to call for the lawmakers to be arrested and tried for “seditious behavior.”
Jennings joined Patrick Bet-David on the PBD Podcast Friday, where he blasted the video and the rhetoric surrounding it, calling the Democrats’ claims baseless and dangerous.
“First of all, what they’re saying is complete and utter bulls**t. There are no illegal orders. What illegal orders?!” Jennings said emphatically.
The video featured Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), along with Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). All have military or intelligence backgrounds, and all accused the Trump administration of supposedly “pitting” the military against American citizens. They claimed “threats” to the Constitution were emerging from within the United States — clearly aimed at Trump.
Jennings was blunt in his response, calling the lawmakers “clowns” and arguing that none of them could point to a single unlawful directive to justify the video. “They can’t name one,” he said, insisting the Democrats were attempting to “foment” unrest and hostility toward the president.
He continued:
“I was on CNN yesterday and we had one of these clowns on, Jason Crow. Kasie Hunt asked him, is there a specific order you’re worried about? Well, no, we’re just generally saying it out loud. The other thing they said there is vital. The threats to the Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, they’re coming from within. They said the president is a threat to the Constitution.”
Jennings argued that this type of rhetoric is the same narrative that has fueled hostility and violence toward federal officials in recent years. He linked such messaging to previous attacks on ICE agents, law enforcement and even the president himself. “This rhetoric is designed to foment insurrection against the commander in chief and violence against the commander in chief,” he said.
In the wake of the video, Trump posted that the participants should be “ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” later adding that “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” is “punishable by DEATH!” Media critics quickly accused Trump of calling for their deaths, something Jennings dismissed outright.
Jennings said Trump’s outrage was fully justified. “Telling the soldiers not to follow orders from the commander in chief?! If I were Donald Trump, I would be outraged,” he said. “He is outraged, he has every right to be outraged. This is extraordinarily irresponsible what these Democrats are doing.”
The exchange underscores a deepening tension between the president and Democratic lawmakers who continue to promote the narrative that Trump poses a constitutional threat — a claim Jennings argues is not only unfounded but dangerously incendiary.
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