Jake Tapper Blasts Trump and Defends Dems Who Insisted Military ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’: The ‘Nuremberg Defense’ Does Not Work

CNN star Jake Tapper ripped President Donald Trump for saying six Democratic lawmakers engaged in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH” by urging military and intelligence members to “refuse illegal orders.” Tapper called it a “wildly inappropriate and potentially dangerous” move by the president.

The Lead host, in a social media post on Friday, argued disobeying the commander-in-chief was the patriotic thing to do, if the military members believe his orders violate the U.S. Constitution. Simply following orders, Tapper said, was the argument many Nazi war criminals made following World War II — and that does not cut it.

“The Nuremberg defense — This is the war crimes tribunal after World War Two — was that these Nazis were only following orders, and Nuremberg defense was resoundingly rejected in international law,” Tapper said. “Carrying out illegal orders is not a defense because you were being obedient.”

 

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Tapper said there are other examples to point to in American history — like the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam in 1968, and the shooting at Kent State University in 1970 — that show following orders is not always a sound defense.

His analysis comes after Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) posted a video on X on Tuesday where she and five other lawmakers said that “threats to the Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but right here at home.”

“You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders,” the lawmakers said, as they took turns reading lines from the same statement.

The other Democrats in the video were Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Those lawmakers served in the Navy, Army, Air Force, or Central Intelligence Agency.

Trump, two days later, ripped them as “traitors” and said they should be “ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.”

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program on Wednesday, said he felt a federal investigation into the lawmakers was warranted.

He told Hannity:

What is the reason that they all went on a video and encouraged young men and women to defy court orders? Without even giving a hint of what’s illegal, without giving any suggestion of what law or what order they are being asked to violate.

You cannot do that in this country, especially if you’re a leader. And so what does the investigation look like? I think they should be held to account. I think that those congressmen should be required to answer questions about why they did what they did and the American people deserve that, and so does President Trump.

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