Senator Markwayne Mullin always has been a classy guy, ever-ready to bridge differences.
And now there is this:
Democrats warned of “illegal” orders with zero proof, and insinuated our military would shoot civilians. Days later, two national guardsmen were brutally attacked in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/RxYyDkG64d
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) November 29, 2025
In the video posted to this tweet of the Oklahoma Republican, Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan can be seen commenting
It makes me incredibly nervous that we're about to see people in law enforcement, people in uniform military get nervous, get stressed, shoot at American civilians. It is very, a very stressful situation for these law enforcement and for the communities on the ground, So it was basically a warning to say, like, if you're asked to do something, particularly against American citizens, you have the ability to go to your JAG officer and push back.
Mullin says Slotkin "owes every single person in uniform an apology" and
That's such an insult to nearly every man and woman that has ever served this great nation other from law enforcement or into, or into the military to say that you're gonna get nervous and you're gonna shoot at citizens, U.S. citizens. That is not happening. We know that's not happening. I know that's not happening.
She's saying that they're not trained well? Is she saying that we don't have the best men and women in serving this great nation?
We may have the best men and women in the Armed Forces but, judging from this video, the best are not serving the Democratic Party, and far worse are serving the Republican Party.
Slotkin erred in referring to "people in law enforcement, people in uniform military" because she was speaking exclusively of military personnel. Her point, as would have been obvious to Mullin, was that National Guard soldiers legitimately face a very stressful situation when called to perform law enforcement.
It's understandable that they would As explained in the two-month old video below, "the problem is that soldiers are trained to see people as possible threats while police officers are supposed to protect citizens and soldiers, as they say, are warriors and police officers are guardians." The perspective most soldiers hold, as well as insufficient or inapplicable training, render them unlikely to engage in community policing, however that's understood by officials and police officers in urban environments.
When members of the National Guard were activated for deployment to Chicago, they and Marines were given two weeks of training. They received a brochure produced by the Department of Defense, as well as a slide presentation which (pursuant to the Posse Comitatus Act) forbade them to be involved in security patrols, traffic control, crowed control, or riot control. However, they were told verbally that they could perform those tasks.
Slotkin inadvisedly conflated police officers with military personnel while she obviously was referring strictly to military. This is unfortunate because as Mullin very likely understands, her point was that members of the Armed Forces are not trained in community law enforcement, which is clearly accurate and relevant. The Oklahoman can choose to misunderstand the Michigander, and even to be ignorant about the training the National Guard receives.
But Senator Mullin went beyond that in strongly implying that Democrats were responsible for the shooting in Washington, D.C.- in which one individual has now died- of the two members of the National Guard. If Democrats were willing and able to confront directly that appalling insinuation, they would not only refute that charge. They also would emphasize that Markwayne Mullin has relieved the suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, of responsibility in the shooting.
It's par for the course. Many Republicans believe the greatest threat to the USA is not terrorism, Russia, or China, but the Democratic Party. Democrats should make this clear to the American people, no matter how much their GOP friends and colleagues squeal from being called out. Moreover, the six Democratic members of Congress who patriotically produced the controversial video must recognize that Elissa Slotkin, who obviously has been nervous defending the ad, is not their best spokesperson.
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