Six Democrats urge military members to 'refuse illegal orders' in viral video; Hegseth responds

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Democrats tell military to ‘refuse illegal orders’ in viral video: 'Don't give up the ship'

Democrat veterans of the military and the intelligence community serving in Congress shared a video many are saying calls for treason on X Tuesday, titled "Don't Give Up the Ship." (Credit: @SenatorSlotkin via X)

A group of Democrat lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds released a video Tuesday urging service members to "refuse illegal orders," a message conservatives blasted as a call to defy President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

The one-minute video, posted by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and viewed more than 1.6 million times, features six lawmakers invoking their prior service while telling members of the military and intelligence community that "the threats to our Constitution are coming from right here at home."

Slotkin and her colleagues have spent recent weeks introducing legislation to limit President Trump’s ability to deploy National Guard members domestically or launch military action against narcoterrorists without congressional approval.

None of that context appears in the video, titled "Don’t Give Up the Ship," which instead frames the appeal as a warning to military members to "stand up for our laws" and "refuse unlawful orders."

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Slotkin called for troops to defy "illegal orders" in a viral video posted on Tuesday alongside fellow Democrat veteran members of Congress. (Paul Sancya - Pool/Getty Images)

Conservative accounts countered the viral clip, citing military law and interpreting the call to action as an alleged appeal to commit treason against the United States.

"Elected Democrats just released a video encouraging members of the military to commit treason and defy orders from Trump and Hegseth," wrote the conservative account Libs of TikTok.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., added: "At the end of the day, they’re mad the American people chose Trump and now they’re calling on the Military and Intelligence Community to intervene. Sounds a little ‘subversive to democracy’-ish."

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War Secretary Pete Hegseth countered the viral video from the Democrat lawmakers with the comment, "Stage 4 TDS." (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The Department of War directed Fox News Digital to Hegseth’s response, which simply read, "Stage 4 TDS," referring to "Trump Derangement Syndrome."

Slotkin’s "No Troops in Our Streets Act," detailed in a Nov. 13 release, would give Congress the power to block National Guard deployments inside American cities. President Trump has expanded National Guard operations to Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago amid violent crime.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., simultaneously introduced a War Powers Continuing Resolution on Tuesday to block the president from ordering strikes on drug traffickers in the Caribbean—actions Crow described in a release as "unauthorized and illegal."

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Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy Captain, urged troops to refuse "illegal orders" in the viral video.  (Eric Lee/Bloomberg)

Both Democrats argue their bills are about asserting congressional authority, not politics. The viral video shared Tuesday, set to triumphant music, does not explicitly mention either piece of legislation.

Lawmakers appearing in the video include Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow. Several recite a version of the line: "You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders."

The branches and agencies represented among the lawmakers include the Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency.

"Some in the administration and media are actively working to distort that message into something dark or divisive," Houlahan said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Let me be absolutely clear: there is nothing more patriotic, nothing more stabilizing and nothing more true to the rule of law than reminding our military of their constitutional obligations and reassuring them that, if they are ever given an unlawful order, they do not have to carry it out."

"‘Don’t Give Up the Ship’ is not a slogan of rebellion—it is a historic naval motto that has always stood for steadfastness, duty and loyalty to country. That is the backbone of American civil-military tradition," she added.

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The video follows a 43-day government shutdown during which American troops continued receiving pay under the Trump administration.

The White House, Slotkin, Kelly, Deluzio, Goodlander and Crow did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.