Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s treatment of political adversaries, warning that the administration’s actions are crossing into authoritarian territory and calling for an end to what he described as persecution.
In a statement released through his Senate office on January 12, 2026, Sanders laid out his view that while policy disagreements are normal in a democracy—even citing his own vote against confirming Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, a conservative Republican—Trump goes further by seeking to destroy those who oppose him.
Sanders pointed to the ongoing prosecution of Powell as an example. He said Trump is pursuing the Fed Chair not for any lawbreaking, but because Powell refuses to submit to the president’s demands. “This is what happens in dictatorships, not democracies,” Sanders wrote.
He then highlighted the case of Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat, retired Navy combat pilot, and former astronaut. When Kelly and other Democratic lawmakers with military backgrounds released a video in mid-November 2025 reminding active-duty service members of their oath to the Constitution and their duty under U.S. law to refuse illegal orders, Trump responded aggressively on Truth Social.
Trump called the video “seditious behavior from traitors” and stated that the participants “should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” adding in a follow-up post that it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” The remarks came after the lawmakers— including Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and several House members—emphasized refusing unlawful orders without naming Trump or urging defiance of legal directives.
White House officials later walked back the comments, saying Trump did not literally call for executions but wanted accountability. Still, Kelly reported a significant increase in graphic death threats against him and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, attributing the surge to the weight of the president’s words.
Days after Trump’s posts, the Defense Department under Secretary Pete Hegseth opened a review into Kelly for alleged misconduct tied to the video, which later became a formal Command Investigation. Sanders described this as Trump having “his Defense Department investigate Kelly for misconduct and threatened to have him executed,” framing the sequence as intimidation following inflammatory rhetoric about death as punishment.
Sanders extended the pattern to other figures. He noted that after New York Attorney General Letitia James successfully enforced state law against Trump in a case based on evidence, Trump had her charged with a crime. He listed additional targets including former FBI Director James Comey, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Sen. Adam Schiff, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, and Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama—saying Trump seeks to intimidate and destroy opponents rather than simply disagree.
Sanders acknowledged deep divisions among Republicans, Democrats, and independents on major national issues. But he stressed one area of necessary unity: Political disagreement must not be treated as a crime, and the United States must not slide into authoritarianism.
“Trump’s persecution of his political opponents must end,” Sanders concluded.
