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“American public isn’t stupid”: Slotkin says Trump’s “sedition” threats are a distraction

The senator said Trump's bluster is meant to draw eyes away from the Epstein files

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Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin (D - MI) delivers a speech on a "new vision" for America's national security at the Council of Foreign Relations on September 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin (D - MI) delivers a speech on a "new vision" for America's national security at the Council of Foreign Relations on September 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Sen. Elissa Slotkin thinks President Donald Trump‘s continued rage at a group of six Democratic senators is nothing more than a distraction from the Epstein files and a faltering economy.

The Democratic senator from Michigan was one of six lawmakers Trump threatened with the death penalty over a joint statement they made to members of the military last week. They encouraged the troops to disregard illegal orders in a move that Trump called “sedition.” Over the weekend, Trump returned to the statement, saying that Slotkin and others “should be in jail” in a post to Truth Social.

“The traitors that told the military to disobey my orders should be in jail right now, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain that what they said was okay,” he wrote. “It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime.”

During a Sunday visit to ABC‘s “This Week,” Slotkin said the president is trying to shift the conversation away from his performance.

“He’s trying to distract us from the big stories of last week, which were the Epstein files and then the economy,” she said.

Slotkin said that Trump was taking a similar stance to former President Joe Biden, who trumpeted the country’s economic performance at a time when many people were feeling a strain on their budgets.

“It was kind of amazing considering that the American public isn’t stupid,” she said. “It reminded me of Joe Biden. Biden tried to tell us for a year that the economy was great.”


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Slotkin said that the president’s attack on the lawmakers “the security situation… for all of us.” A bomb threat was called in to her home in Michigan earlier this week. Per a statement from her office, she was not home at the time and a police search turned up nothing.

“Sen. Slotkin is deeply grateful for the swift and professional response of Oakland County and Michigan State Police,” a spokesperson wrote. “U.S. Capitol Police will continue to investigate and hopefully hold accountable those responsible.”


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