Ever since President Donald Trump called for the imprisonment of several Democratic members of Congress — even endorsing a call for them to be hanged — their national profiles have been significantly elevated. One Republican strategist is warning that Trump may be pouring gasoline on a fire that he should instead be extinguishing.
Politico reported Wednesday that Trump's attacks on six Democrats who recorded a video urging rank-and-file servicemen and women to remember their duty to disobey illegal orders may already be backfiring politically. Those Democrats – who are all veterans of either the U.S. military or the CIA — reminded active-duty service members of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) which stipulates that lawful orders must be obeyed, but that carrying out unlawful orders could result in a court-martial.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has recently suggested that retired U.S. Navy Captain Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who appeared in the video, could be called back into active-duty service and be subjected to a court-martial for his remarks. But Arizona-based Republican strategist Barrett Marson told Politico that pursuing Kelly could end up being politically costly for Republicans in the next two elections.
"Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump are providing Mark Kelly with the kind of visibility that almost no amount of money could buy," Marson said. "Every 2028 contender wishes they could be attacked like this by the Trump administration."
Aside from Kelly, other Democrats have been capitalizing from the heightened national attention resulting from Trump's attacks. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a retired CIA operative who appeared in the video, has lately been promoting her plan to "contain and defeat Donald Trump." Both Kelly and Slotkin represent swing states and are rumored to run for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Kelly was on former Vice President Kamala Harris' short-list for 2024 running mates.
"It’s classic Trump — he ratchets everything up to an 11 and it blows up in his face," former Slotkin spokesperson Austin Cook told Politico.
"Not only did it reinforce everything swing voters have always hated about him, but it’s also given this group the biggest megaphone they’ve ever had," he added.
Click here to read Politico's report in full.