Veteran who Trump ATTACKED issues MUST-SEE clapback

I'm joined now by Congressman Chris. Duzio. Thanks so much for taking the. time. >> Yeah, Brian, thanks for having me on. >> So, obviously the last 24, 36 hours have. been very bizarre as Donald Trump has. really called in in no uncertain terms. for the death penalty for a group of. Democratic officials who rightly said. that uh soldiers should ignore unlawful. orders. You were among those who were. targeted by the Trump administration. So, first and foremost, what has the. last 36 hours been like for you in terms. of the aftermath of Donald Trump.

basically putting a target on your head? >> Well, his words have real impact. And. he, as [snorts] you say, right, called. for our arrests and execution, but also. shared post calling for us to be hanged. All of us who are not just members of. Congress, but wore the uniform or served. intelligence services. These are people. who have served the country. And I've. had death threats come in. Uh my offices. and my district have had bomb threats. called in. My staff is safe. I'm glad to. say and proud to say, but it's dangerous. stuff. And you know, if there's any.

silver lining in this, and it's it's not. about me or my colleagues. Um the. outpouring of condemnation of Donald. Trump's violent words, his calls for. violence against us, um has really. been heartening, encouraging to see so. many people in my district in Western. Pennsylvania and beyond uh say enough is. enough. I mean, this guy is just, it. tells you all you need to know about him. and his response to us restating the law. as a threatened death. It's crazy.

>> Can you can you talk about what the law. actually is with regard to uh to, you. know, refusing to obey uh unlawful. orders? I. >> mean, it's exactly that. No one can ever. be forced in uniform to follow illegal. orders. Um, it's something you learn. I. went to the Naval Academy. You learn. that in ple summer and your time there. You learn it if you go to boot camp. You. train on it regularly in uniform and. senior officers like admirals and. generals have jags or military lawyers. to help navigate through these issues. It it's fundamental. And by the way, the.

people who pointed to a defense of I was. just following orders, Nazis at. Nermberg, that defense was rejected. This is a long tradition of you can. never force our troops to follow illegal. orders. And and it's shocking to me that. simply restating the meaning of the oath. to the Constitution, restating the law, prompted Donald Trump to threaten to. kill us and have us killed. It's it's. just it tells you all you need to know. about this guy. >> What about the response from Republicans. more broadly? I know that when it comes. to anything, you've got the Mike.

Johnson's of the world who will. dutifully tow the line in and like offer. him slavish devotion and that really is. that really is the the sole. qualification for being in Republican. leadership these days. But but what has. the response more broadly been like from. the GOP? I. >> I wish it were more uniform in. condemning what he said, but I I'm not. seeing much political courage to say. that calling for the death of members of. Congress for stating the law is out of. bounds. Uh good patriotic Americans, Democrats, Republicans, you name it, in.

my district, they understand this is. wrong. I'm not seeing enough courage. from the Republicans I've served with, and some have spoken up. I don't want to. erase what they what some of them have. said, but I I think this should be an. easy one. And Brian, I'll be honest, there were lots of calls for Democrats. to condemn the killing of Charlie Kirk, as I condemned. Uh I quickly and loudly. condemned when Donald Trump was nearly. killed in Butler, just north of my. district in Pennsylvania. This shouldn't. be hard for people to do. And just the. fact that it's Donald Trump saying it,

um seeing people unwilling to condemn it. who are in elected office, it's it's. pathetic. It's weak. And it's frankly. how this stuff becomes normal and it. should never be normalized in our. country. >> To what extent do you think that this. lash out is the result of really what's. been a growing progression of losses for. Trump? Whether it was on, you know, a. couple Tuesdays back the election. results, whether it was the fact that. with the release of the Epstein files, we saw the House vote 427 to1 and then. the Senate votes vote unanimously to.

release them. despite all of these. efforts by Donald Trump to suppress. these files over the course of really. over the course of 10 months and and so. do you think it was was just coincidence. that in the aftermath of all that of of. his sinking poll numbers finding out. that Gen Z's and Latino voters are are. you know running away from this MAGA. coalition that they had been a part of. before. Do you think it's a coincidence. that all of that stuff happened and was. immediately followed by you know an. effort by Donald Trump to kind of thrust. forward some big display of strength?

Well, I wouldn't put it past him and he. looks like a weak president at this. point. His numbers are imploding as you. pointed out. Uh the Republicans under. his leadership just got waloped in the. polls two weeks ago. Uh he looked weak. and his his own party broke against him. to release the Epstein files as you said. uh nearly unanimously. So I I don't know. what's in his heart of hearts. Um but. you know I think the writing's on the. wall that uh his whole political program. is imploding. his numbers are imploding. and he's poised to lead the Republicans. down to electoral defeat in a big big.

way in the midterms less than a year. from now. >> What about the the use of political. violence as a tool moving forward? The. reality is that Trump already pardoned. 1,600 insurrectionists, many of whom. were violent, and now he's pardoned the. suits of that whole uh election. subversion uh scheme that he put. forward. And that was just a couple of. weeks ago. And and granted that was, you. know, in large part symbolic because. these people were contending with state. prosecutions. But that notwithstanding, he sent a clear message from the White. House that any effort uh that that no.

matter what you do, no matter how. violent it was, that all of that would. be excused so long it as it was in. deference to him. >> It's dangerous stuff. And I think people. understand how dangerous it is. Right. If if you're hearing a signal from the. president that you can go commit crimes, but there'll be a pardon waiting for. you. >> Yeah. Wait, you have no incentive to. follow the law. That's crazy. That. that's such a break from bedrock law and. order ideas in this country. And you. know, you mentioned the people he.

pardoned on January 6th. I mean, a lot. of cop beaters in that group that he's. pardoned. A lot of people who attacked. the capital police and others who were. defending the capital, defending our. government. Um, it's dangerous stuff. And I I just never taken a lecture from. this guy or anyone else who defends. those pardons. and talks to me about. patriotism or law and order. They can. miss me with that crap. It is it is just. outrageous. >> In terms of your own conversations with. your constituents, you you'd mentioned. at the top that you'd received this. outpouring of support in light of what.

Trump just did. What have your. conversations more broadly been like. with independents or Republicans? Those. are the folks who who I'm especially um. curious about because, you know, we have. seen a lot of the coalition that that. propelled Trump and Republicans into the. majority everywhere, White House, Senate, House. Um you know, we've seen. that coalition begin to fracture. And so. in your in your um own personal. experiences, what does that look like? Look, I think a lot of people, whatever. their political leanings, and we can.

talk about independents, Republican. leaning independents, Republicans in. Western Pennsylvania are feeling the. pinch, the squeeze of cost pounding them. and and know that Donald Trump and the. Republicans have full control of our. government. And not only have they. failed to bring down costs, costs have. gotten worse, they've continued to rise. since they've had full full power. And. we've just had this fight over these. Affordable Care Act tax credits. uh. they're my constituents are looking at. these premiums and we're talking 75%. average increases if you're shopping on.

the exchange in Pennsylvania and my two. counties right now. Uh people who aren't. just core Democrats are mad about this. They know that Donald Trump promised to. deliver lower cost and he has delivered. the exact opposite. And Brian, I'll tell. you, I'm in steel country, right? This. is a place where we have lived through. bad trade deals and people are furious. at the recklessness of Donald Trump's. trade wars and what it's meant for cost. of living uh for us in Western. Pennsylvania. >> Do you think there's a recognition uh. from your constituents that that that. Donald Trump basically sold them a bill.

of goods? This guy ran on this idea that. he is going to lower the cost of. housing, of rent, of groceries. He went. so granular that he was talking about. the price of eggs only to then get into. office, start a trade war that raised. the cost of everything, cut Medicaid for. 17 million Americans, refuse to extend. the ACA subsidies that are going to. mean, you know, like you said, 75% on. average increases in ACA premiums. And. then on top of that, that this guy has. the audacity to focus all of his. attention on cutting down the east wing.

of the White House so he can build. himself a ballroom, buy a couple of. Gulfream jets for Christine Gnome, retrofit Atari jets to the tune of a. billion dollars, uh um you know, host. great Gatsby parties at Mara Lago, and. crush the Oval Office in gold. What is. What has the response been like from. folks who believed this guy when he was. on the campaign trail, promising to feel. the pain of everyday Americans? And and. look, I I I don't disparage people based. on how they vote, right? That's not. that's there are good and decent people. all over the spectrum who I think point.

go right to where you just pointed, which is this guy promised to accomplish. a lot about making my life better. And. not only has he failed to do that, my. life has gotten worse and this guy is. off doing all the things you just. listed. Nothing to do with making life. more affordable and better for people, all while doing crazy things like. threatening to kill their congressman. Yeah. for stating the law. Uh it's. reckless stuff. And again, I you know, I. I run and win in a very competitive. district. And I'm telling you, people. have had enough of this. We just had.

elections in Pennsylvania two weeks ago, and the judicial races weren't even. close. The municipal races weren't even. close. In my district, one of the most. competitive in the country. The judicial. candidates, the statewide judicial. candidates, won by more than 20 points. That tells you people have had enough of. what's happening in Washington under. full Republican control. Uh they're. ready for something different here. One. more question on safety. Um, how do you. think about talking about that publicly? Because on one hand, I understand that. it probably is important to make sure. that people know the consequences of. what this guy does, the real world.

consequences that his words have, but on. the other hand, is there some concern. that by virtue of talking about it, it. validates it as a tool that other people. can say, "Hey, this is clearly having an. impact. Maybe I should, you know, glom. on to this effort on behalf of Donald. Trump who's issued his clarion call.". You know, I think it'd be easy to be. scared here, and I don't want to. underell the seriousness that I'm taking. with which I'm taking these threats, but. I I've been elected to do a job. I I've. sworn the oath of the Constitution. I.

did it when I was 17, head of the Naval. Academy. I take that seriously. I have a. duty to represent represent the people. who sent me. And I'm not going to let. this guy intimidate me whether he. threats threatens my life or otherwise. And we need patriots in this moment who. understand that and are willing to stand. up to this guy and do their job and do. their duty. That is a simple a simple. question for me of whether I'm going to. show up and do my job and I'm I'll be. god damn I'll let this guy intimidate me. from doing it. >> Perfectly put. We'll leave it there. Congressman, appreciate your time. >> Thank you.

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