Trump wants death for 6 Democrats. Only 1 of our KS or MO senators disagreed | Opinion
I am no fan of Donald Trump. One of the truest things I ever wrote about him was in a USA Today editorial during his first term: “Rock bottom is no impediment for a president who can always find room for a new low.”
That was when he accused a female senator of offering him sexual favors in return for campaign donations. Now, Trump has proven me right, yet again.
No, it wasn’t when he called a female reporter “piggy.”
On Thursday, he called for the deaths of six Democratic members of Congress.
No, really. The Congresspersons and senators — Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania; and Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, all Democrats — released a video asking members of the military to refuse illegal orders. How dare they encourage military members to obey the law during an administration that regularly bends, twists and breaks it.
NPR summarized Trump’s words: “On Truth Social, Trump said the comments made in (a) video “cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” An hour later, Trump shared another post, stating, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
I guess the time for watching our rhetoric after the two attempts to assassinate Trump and the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk is over. Now we’re back into the sewer.
It is disappointing that Trump can’t keep to his own administration’s call for civility, but it is not a surprise.
I sent emails and made phone calls to the four Republicans who represent Missouri and Kansas in the Senate, where two Democrats have been marked for death by the leader of the Republican Party, to see what they thought.
Midwesterners, I hoped, would be better than a crass New York real estate guy, right?
Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri didn’t respond. His colleague Sen. Josh Hawley didn’t respond. Across the river, Sen. Roger Marshall’s office wouldn’t even give me the name of a press contact and didn’t respond to a generic email.
Sen. Jerry Moran is a little more of a standup guy. Does he think two U.S. senators should be tried and put to death for making a video Trump doesn’t like? “No,” says Moran, “I don’t.”
If you’re a U.S. senator, even if you are a member of Trump’s party, it shouldn’t be hard to get you to say killing members of the opposition party is a bad idea. But that is where Trump’s leadership has brought us.
David Mastio is a national columnist for The Kansas City Star and McClatchy.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 2:02 PM.
