A video released last week by six Democratic lawmakers has set off an acrimonious partisan debate over what constitutes treason and reflects a larger political debate about what constitutes patriotism in today’s polarised political environment.

In the 90-second video, the six Democrats, all with military or national security backgrounds, criticised Trump and reminded military personnel they had the right – the obligation, even – to disobey “unlawful orders”.

Although they did not detail what orders they had in mind, they are thought to have been referring to the deployment of National Guard troops to US cities and the US Navy raids on alleged drugs traffickers in the Caribbean.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” they said.

You have taken an oath to defend the US constitution, they reminded their military listeners, and “the threats to our constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home”.

In a way, the rhetoric does not differ too markedly from some used by the president himself, who has warned, including to speeches to military audiences, that America faces an “enemy within”.

Trump’s response to the video, however, was quick and sharp.

He called it “seditious behaviour, punishable by death” and said the Democratic lawmakers should be arrested and tried. He also shared Truth Social posts that echoed those calls, including one recommending that the six should be hanged.

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly downplayed the Trump’s comments, saying he was not suggesting public executions. But this week consequences the administration might pursue are taking shape.

On Monday morning, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth confirmed that the Pentagon was investigating whether Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, one of the six, had violated military law by participating in the video.

The retired Navy captain, combat pilot and astronaut could theoretically be recalled to active duty to face court martial or administrative measures.

A Pentagon statement noted that the Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits interfering with “the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces”.

According to Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer now teaching at Southwestern Law School, a Pentagon effort to recall and prosecute Kelly would be “dead on arrival” when presented to a military judge.

“There’s never been a sitting lawmaker, a congressman or woman, who has been involuntarily recalled to active duty,” she said. “It just doesn’t happen.”

She added that the spectacle of the defence department’s effort – the “intimidation campaign” – is the real purpose.

Kelly isn’t alone in being subjected to the government’s investigative microscope. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the FBI has plans to interview all the participating Democrats to determine if there is evidence of “wrongdoing”.

Meanwhile, a CIA spokesperson said Senator Elise Slotkin of Michigan, who also participated in the video, had “joined the ranks of disgraced former intelligence officers” who have advanced “a malicious and disingenuous political agenda”.

Even if this is a “spectacle”, as VanLandingham suggests, it does point to a new, growing clash between the Republicans and Democrats when it comes to patriotism and which side best embodies it.

Trump has long embraced the flag – literally, at times – and been a vocal proponent of American exceptionalism. He holds rallies in front of US soldiers and celebrates demonstrations of military might. Lee Greenwood’s Proud to be an American ballad has been the president’s preferred entrance music at rallies and other public events for years.

Many on the left have been more wary of such public displays, often tacitly agreeing with an old Samuel Johnson quote about patriotism being “the last refuge of a scoundrel”.

A June 2025 Gallup poll found a record low number of Democrats, 36%, said they were “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American, compared to 92% of Republicans.

There have been political campaigns, such as Kamala Harris’s last year and Hillary Clinton in 2016, that have attempted to reclaim patriotism as a Democratic Party attribute.

“We love our country,” Harris said at a rally in Philadelphi last August. “And I believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country.”

The next presidential election is nearly three years away, however, and Democrats – whether through strategy or political self-preservation in the face of Trump attacks – have been striking a similar theme.

Kelly, in response to news of the Pentagon investigation, said: “I don’t think there’s anything more patriotic than standing up for the Constitution.”

Recent anti-Trump protests, such as last month’s nationwide No Kings Day, have framed their objections with flag-waving American pride. And Democratic leaders have sought to recruit military veterans for public office, including more than 30 potential House candidates, according to a recent New York Times report.

It’s too early to tell whether their efforts will lead to electoral success or the rehabilitation of a Democratic brand that has been scarred by internal divisions in the wake of last year’s presidential defeat.

But patriotism can be a powerful force in American politics. And, at least for the moment, the six lawmakers who have received the targeted ire – and investigatory spotlight – from Trump and his administration appear uninterested in backing away from this fight.

As Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona bluntly put it this week as Trump stepped up his attacks on the Democrats

“[Expletive] you and your investigation,” he wrote on X. “In America, we swear an oath to the constitution, not wannabe kings.”

Additional reporting by Max Matza