Slotkin: ‘Security situation’ has changed since Trump sedition accusations

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said on Sunday that her security has ramped up since President Trump accused her and fellow Democratic lawmakers of committing “sedition” for encouraging service members to defy unlawful orders.

In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Slotkin was asked to respond to Trump’s latest social media posts doubling down on his attacks on the group of Democrats — all of whom have backgrounds in military or intelligence service — even after the White House walked back his earlier suggestion that they were guilty of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

“Well, I think almost immediately, you know, the security situation changed for all of us,” she said in the interview, when asked what has been happening since the attacks from the president.

“Leadership climate is set at the top,” she continued. “So, if the president is saying things like that, you can imagine people on the ground, what they’re doing, the calls into our office … into our teams, the calling of police.”

A group of Democratic lawmakers released a video last week telling service members they can “refuse illegal orders,” and saying, “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”

Slotkin, a former CIA intelligence analyst who served three tours alongside the U.S. military, was featured in the video with fellow Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Democratic Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio (Pa.) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.).

Slotkin said she has faced a “huge spike in death threats and intimidation on our phones and on our email and websites” since the president’s public attacks. She told MS NOW, formally MSNBC, that the Capitol Police told her that “We’re going to put you on 24/7 security.”

Slotkin, in the Sunday interview, said she does not regret speaking her mind, but she called the president’s comments inappropriate.

“You know, I think I’ve been through dangerous situations before, so it doesn’t change, you know, my feeling about speaking my mind. But obviously, the president took issue with one sentence in a video and was calling for our death. I think that’s inappropriate, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or an independent,” she said.

The swing-state senator was asked if she’s concerned about the administration still vowing to hold the Democrats “accountable” for the video.

“Look, I mean, I think there’s no secret that the president is trying to weaponize the Justice Department. We’ve seen him do this many times with many different people already,” she said.

She said Trump is trying to “distract” the public from news about the economy and releasing files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“This is a tool of fear. He’s trying to get us to shut up because he doesn’t want to be talking about this. And in fact, I would argue that one of the things that he’s been doing by repeating it and talking about it is trying to distract us from the big stories of last week, which were the Epstein files and then the economy.”