"Does the president want to execute members of Congress?" — Leavitt Responds to Lawmakers

"Does the president want to execute members of Congress?" — Leavitt Responds to Lawmakers

In today’s episode of “American Politics: The Extended Universe,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked the extremely normal, totally chill, perfectly reasonable question: “Does the president want to execute members of Congress?”

Because apparently that’s where the Overton window lives now — in a bunker, wearing night-vision goggles.

The exchange spiraled from there as Leavitt unloaded on a group of Democratic lawmakers who recorded a video urging members of the military to resist what they called “unlawful orders.” Leavitt framed it as a dangerous attempt to encourage troops to break the chain of command; the press framed it as, “Wait, did the president really say ‘punishable by death’ over breakfast?”

Welcome to the middle: where both sides insist they’re defending democracy, everyone accuses everyone else of sedition, and journalists like me are just trying to figure out which plot twist we missed.

Leavitt’s message?
If you film a video telling active-duty service members to ignore the Commander-in-Chief, don’t act surprised when the White House calls it “a very, very dangerous message” — and maybe even illegal.

The press corps’ message?
“Ma’am, we are simply trying to not go viral for the wrong reasons. Please stop giving us material.”

In short:
Washington asked a nuclear-level question, Leavitt returned fire, and somewhere out there the Constitution is quietly buffering.