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Ocasio-Cortez tells military chain of command to refuse ‘illegal orders’ in Iran

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by Sarah Davis - 04/07/26 2:51 PM ET

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by Sarah Davis - 04/07/26 2:51 PM ET

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed President Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran does not meet his administration’s demands by Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT.

“This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote Tuesday in a post on the social platform X. “The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted.”

“To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat,” the lawmaker continued.

The president issued his threat in a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump wrote, adding, “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

The post comes two days after Trump ordered Tehran to “Open the F‑‑‑in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”

Ocasio-Cortez’s post echoes calls from other Democrats on Tuesday for the president’s removal.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) warned military troops to be wary of complying with “illegal orders” after Trump’s Tuesday post.

“If those words become orders to destroy civilian infrastructure with no valid military purpose, it’s hard to see how they would not violate the laws of armed conflict,” Kelly wrote on X.

“America leads best with strength, discipline, and professionalism,” the retired Navy captain continued. “Illegal orders to make civilians suffer would be a black mark on our military and our country.”

Last year, the Trump administration targeted Kelly and several other Democratic lawmakers after the group participated in a video advising troops against complying with “illegal orders.” The Democrats said the Justice Department launched an investigation into their appearance in the video.

In February, a grand jury refused to indict the six lawmakers involved in the video on charges filed by the office of the U.S. attorney general for the District of Columbia.

The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), said the actions suggested in Trump’s post were “comparable to genocide” in a statement shared by Punchbowl News.

“President Trump’s social media post goes beyond what any president should say or do,” Reed said in the statement. “Threatening to eliminate a civilization is comparable to genocide.

“That is illegal, immoral, and should not be in the vocabulary of an American president,” the committee’s ranking member continued. “The ominous sentiment he’s suggesting would be a criminal act.”

Former GOP lawmaker and Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joined some Democrats in calling for the president’s removal under the 25th Amendment on Tuesday.

“25TH AMENDMENT!!! Not a single bomb has dropped on America,” Greene wrote on X. “We cannot kill an entire civilization.”

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