Santa Barbara Rep. Salud Carbajal Condemns President’s Violent Rhetoric After Six Democrats’ Viral Video on Illegal Orders 

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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Santa Barbara’s House Representative Salud Carbajal said he condemns President Donal Trump’s response to a viral video that six other Congress Democrats released last week. Here’s what’s going on. 

On November 18, six Democratic members of Congress released a 90-second video that now appears on several social media platforms. In the video, they speak directly to active military members and professionals working in government intelligence. 

“You can refuse illegal orders,” Senator Mark Kelly (AZ), a Navy captain, and Senator Elissa Slotkin (MI), a former CIA officer, say in quick succession. Immediately after, Representative Chris Deluzio (PA), a former Navy officer, says, “You must refuse illegal orders.” 

Representative Maggie Goodlander (NH) a former intelligence officer, Representative Chrissy Houlahan (PA), a former Air Force officer, and Representative Jason Crow (CO) a former Army ranger, also speak in the video, telling service members that no one needs to carry out orders that violate the law or constitution. 

Two days later, President Trump responded to the video in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, calling the six Democrats’ behavior “seditious” (meaning inciting insurrection against lawful authority) and “punishable by death.”

“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” the president wrote in another post. 

Congressmember Carbajal, who represents Santa Barbara County, as well as parts of San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County, said he strongly condemned the president’s comments. 

“As a veteran myself, I want to be clear: servicemembers’ oath is to the Constitution,” Salud said in a statement to the Independent. “Refusing unlawful orders is not only their Constitutional right — it is their duty. Generations of Americans have taken this oath to protect our country and democratic values. As Commander in Chief, President Trump should respect and uphold these sacred norms.” 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president does not want to execute members of Congress. 

“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos, and that’s what these members of Congress who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution are essentially encouraging,” she said in a press conference last week. 

The Democratic lawmakers who made the video did not specify current illegal orders, and in a follow-up interview with ABC, Senator Slotkin said that she was not aware of any current illegal orders. 

Representative Crow appeared for an interview on CBS, where interviewer Margaret Brennan said that fellow veterans in Congress had called the video corrosive to the military and asked for his response. 

“We wanted to start a conversation — and we did — about the dangerous rhetoric this president is using and the threats that he’s made to use our military in an unlawful way,” he said, pointing out the president’s threat to send military troops to Chicago. 

Several of the lawmakers in the video have reported receiving bomb threats since the president’s comments. On Monday, the Pentagon announced on X that it was reviewing “serious allegations of misconduct” against Senator Kelly. The post did not detail what these allegations were but suggested it may have to do with the video, as it said that all servicemembers are legally obligated to obey lawful orders and orders presumed lawful. Then, on Tuesday, the FBI announced it would investigate these six members of Congress. 

Meanwhile, tensions are rising between the United States and Venezuela, with the U.S. military deploying the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. military has carried out 20 strikes on boats near Venezuela; White House officials have said they were smuggling drugs, although the administration has not yet provided public evidence of this claim. The strikes have killed at least 80 people, according to the Associated Press. UN experts have said they amount to extrajudicial executions, or illegal killings, as reported in Reuters.