Last month, six Democratic congressional lawmakers reminded members of the military that they have the legal right to disobey orders issued by President Donald Trump if they feel those orders are illegal. That message prompted Trump to accuse the lawmakers of “sedition,” a charge he claimed could be punishable by “death.”
Trump’s comments were met with widespread criticism — and now, a new Economist/YouGov poll suggests that a plurality of Americans agree with the Democrats’ message about refusing orders, and disapprove of Trump’s response.
According to that poll, 46 percent of Americans approve of the Democrats’ message, while 39 percent disapprove. Conversely, Trump’s words received disapproval from nearly 6 in 10 Americans, 59 percent, with only 26 percent approving of his labeling the lawmakers as seditious and his threat that they could face death as punishment.
Trump’s approval ratings, already low at the beginning of November, may have slipped slightly due to the controversy. At the start of that month, Trump had a net -18 approval rating in the Economist/YouGov survey. In this latest poll for the start of December, Trump’s net rating is now -19 points.
The video message from the six Democratic members of Congress — all former members of the military or national security officers — sought to remind troops that they do not have to obey illegal orders from anyone in the administration, including Trump.
The message came as Trump has teased the idea of sending the military to Democratic-run cities through the use of the Insurrection Act (despite no evidence of an insurrection taking place). It was also released as the Trump administration launched deadly strikes on boats off the coast of South America — attacks that human rights experts have denounced as “crimes against humanity” and that some military officials are concerned could amount to extrajudicial killings.
The lawmakers in the video included Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) and Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), as well as Reps. Maggie Goodlander (D-New Hampshire), Chris Deluzio (D-Pennsylvania), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania), and Jason Crow (D-Colorado).
“Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this constitution,” the six lawmakers said in their video. “Right now, the threats to our constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.”
They added:
Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.
Trump posted several responses on his Truth Social website after the message garnered millions of views. He errantly derided the video as “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.”
“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” he added.
Trump also shared a post from another user calling for the lawmakers to be hanged. After sharing that post, Trump wrote that the video amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
However, U.S. code and military rules demonstrate that members of the military can — and indeed, are obligated to — disobey illegal orders from higher-ups, including the commander in chief. There are several historical examples, too, of members of the military refusing illegal orders.
In a statement following the lawmakers’ video, Veterans For Peace lauded their message.
“We call on all veterans to stand with these members of Congress and amplify their message so that Airmen, Marines, Seamen, and Army troops know that if they ever face the difficult challenge of refusing an illegal order, they are carrying out their oath to defend the Constitution by following the law,” the group said in a statement, providing a list of resources available for servicemembers if they want to object to demands from their superiors.
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