“You just read what he said about me and five other members of Congress. If that’s not a threat of violence, I don’t know what is.”
Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-06) said yesterday that she called the Capitol Police and “made a threat against me from the President of the United States” in response to Donald Trump Thursday’s tirade at her, Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17) and four other Democratic lawmakers who served in the military.
The group posted a video on Facebook reminding soldiers of their oath sworn to the Constitution, not the president.
Trump took offense and posted on social media that the video was an incitement to subversion with the “death penalty.”
The response from Democratic lawmakers was swift and overwhelmingly critical of Trump and his choice of words and actions.
Houlahan, who represents Chester County and southeastern Berks County, said the video was the result of footage accumulating over the past 10 months.
“We have watched this president sort of overstep all the boundaries, try to break all the circuits, so to speak, and overwhelm all of us with trying to figure out where the boundaries are in the law,” she said. Greg Sargenthost New Republic’s Daily Blast podcast. “So it’s not just in the military realm – although that’s obviously what this particular podcast or show is about – but it’s clearly perceptible in the over 149 cases over the last few months where the president has issued orders in one form or another that have then in some way, shape or form been referred to the court.
“That’s why it’s not too much to expect that this president, who loosely follows the law, will continue to play loose with people who serve in the military or in the intelligence community. We wanted to make sure that these people get the message from us, which was already in their place, that they must remember that they took an oath by the Constitution, not by a man. They took an oath by the Constitution, not by a party, and that the law obliges them to obey the law and carry out the law accordingly.” with the law of commands – but also legally obliged to refuse unlawful commands.
Houlahan, who grew up in a military family and served in the United States Air Force and the United States Air Force Reserve, was astounded that Trump “was, for lack of a better way of thinking about it, inciting violence, political violence against his opposition. Death, specifically. And calling service people, duly elected members of Congress treasonous and seditious, and calling for our death – that was just astonishing.”
She said the video was created in response to the president’s actions during the boat bombings in the Caribbean Sea, as well as his orders to the military in American cities.
“It ended with the icing on the cake of the president of the United States threatening to kill sitting members of Congress,” she said. “Talk about what is illegal and mind-boggling. That’s why we made this film. You also raise a very good point: in this atmosphere, in this environment, Congress is absent. We are scattered, locked in – whatever version of dysfunction you can come up with.”
Houlahan said she is at peace with the decision to record the video, especially after the incident House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) prevented her from “carrying out our constitutional oversight responsibilities.”
“So I’m in a place where this is my way of communicating and this is my way of surveillance. And you’ve given me all the arguments I need except the president’s death threat.
She also lamented the impact the president’s social media posts would have on everyone around her and others.
“Even if for some reason he didn’t mean it or didn’t act on it, he just exposed a lot of people who aren’t necessarily well to people like me and my team and my family,” she said. “And that’s also a crime. And yes, I think we’re in a really strange place where I have to talk to you – that the president, our president, my president – has done something like this.
Houlahan presented the threat processbecause lawmakers identify the person, if known, via email and include the text of the threat if it is available. She said it’s not an unknown process.
“And then they made it public, a pile of threats that we as a group receive far too regularly. And we did. I think some other offices may have followed suit because I don’t know how else to describe it other than a threat to my safety.”
The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) threat assessment caseload has increased for the second year in a row. In 2024, USCP Threat Assessment Section (TAS). 9,474 were examined regarding statements and direct threats against members of Congress, including their families and staff.
Trump administration press secretary Caroline Leavitt responded yesterday, saying the group was implying that “the president issued illegal orders, which he did not do.”
“Well, it’s valuable that we’re having this conversation,” Houlahan said in response to Leavitt. “What is not valuable is the fact that he is cheating. He is lying. If you heard the video, she said that we called on people to obey lawful orders or refuse to obey lawful orders, which is exactly – literally – the complete opposite of what we said. And that is why problems continue to arise in this administration. Narratives are twisted, lies are told, people believe them because they didn’t have a chance to see what was really said, and we are drifting further and further apart from each other.”
Houlahan also hopes for education, as he says not every person currently serving in the military “will be able to necessarily determine what their responsibilities are.”
“We need people to feel comfortable knowing what they are responsible for and what they are responsible for, which is the Constitution, not the president of the United States.”
