Leavitt Destroys CBS Reporter Over Democrats Trying to Turn Troops Against Trump

The Press Secretary delivers a masterclass in fact-checking and media accountability from the podium.

By now, just about everyone has seen the video making the rounds, titled “Don’t Give Up The Ship,” where a handful of Democratic lawmakers appear to be calling on U.S. service members to commit sedition.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado all feature in the 60-second clip, urging military personnel to refuse what they claim are “illegal” orders from President Trump and his chain of command.

Earlier today, President Trump weighed in himself, posting on Truth Social:

But when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took the podium for the daily briefing, she completely dismantled a CBS reporter’s attempt to spin the story, doing it in front of the entire briefing room.

Nancy Cordes tried to frame Trump as calling for the death of members of Congress while conveniently leaving out what had actually provoked his response.

CORDES:

“This morning, President Trump accused six Democratic lawmakers of seditious behavior punishable by death. Just to be clear, does the president want to execute members of Congress?”

Leavitt didn’t even let the question land.

She immediately set the record straight, explaining that Trump was responding to the video in which sitting members of Congress were actively urging service members to defy orders.

LEAVITT:

“No. Let’s be clear about what the president is responding to, because many in this room want to talk about the president’s response, but not what brought the president to responding in this way.”

“You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders.”

She broke down the seriousness of the situation, noting that 1.3 million active-duty service members could be influenced by the radical message, potentially creating real-world chaos and endangering lives.

“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed. It can lead to chaos. These members of Congress who swore an oath to, to abide by the Constitution are essentially encouraging.”

“We have 1.3 [million] active duty service members in this country. And if they hear this radical message from sitting members of Congress, that could inspire chaos, and it could incite violence, and it certainly could disrupt the chain of command.”

Then Leavitt called out each member of Congress who took part in the video and made it clear that they knew exactly what they were doing when they made the clip.

“These three members of Congress, I will also add, knew EXACTLY what they were doing. You look at Elissa Slotkin, she’s a former member of the CIA. Mark Kelly was a captain in the U.S. Navy. Maggie Goodlander was a naval officer, and notably, she was also she is also the wife of Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan. And so these members knew what they were doing.”

“They were leaning into their credentials as former members of our military, as veterans, as former members of the national security apparatus, to signal to people serving under this commander in chief, Donald Trump, that you can defy him and you can betray your oath of office. That is a very, very dangerous message, and it perhaps is punishable by law.”

Leavitt had laid down the law, and that should have been the end of the discussion on this topic — but it wasn’t.

Nancy didn’t learn her lesson the first time — so she walked right back into the buzzsaw.

Mere seconds after getting fact‑checked on live TV, she tried the same narrative again, suggesting Trump himself was encouraging violence. And once again, she got clapped by Leavitt in front of the White House press corps.

CORDES:

“Karoline, can I just follow up? The president and the vice president, for that matter, have accused the other side of encouraging political violence.”

“Isn’t that exactly what the president is doing when he says that members of Congress should be killed?”

Leavitt’s response was not only masterful, it left no room for misinterpretation. She fired back with both barrels.

LEAVITT:

“Why aren’t you talking about what these members of Congress are doing to encourage and incite violence?!”

“They are literally saying to 1.3 million active duty service members…to defy the chain of command, not to follow lawful orders.”

“They’re suggesting, Nancy, that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that is given to this United States military by this commander in chief and through this chain of command, through the Secretary of War, is lawful.”

“And the courts have proven that this administration has an unparalleled record at the Supreme Court, because we are following the laws, we don’t defy court orders.”

“We do things by the books, and to to suggest and encourage that active duty service members defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do.”

Leavitt’s rebuttal went way beyond simple a fact check. It was a lesson for the entire press corps about context, narratives, and the responsibility of journalists to report the full story.

In a world where media outlets often leave out crucial details to fit their own narrative, her briefing reminded everyone in the room — and the watching public — that truth matters, especially when it involves the chain of command of the U.S. military.

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