Dems Blast Trump Over Threat to Destroy Iran Civilization

President Trump's latest warning to Iran has Democrats in Congress talking about impeachment, the 25th Amendment, and war crimes. On Tuesday, the president used Truth Social to threaten that Iran's "whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" unless it reopens the Strait of Hormuz and agrees to a peace deal by 8pm Eastern. Lawmakers in his party have largely stayed quiet so far; Democrats did the opposite, the Hill reports.

• Sen. Chris Murphy accused Trump of threatening a war crime. "Threatening to end an entire civilization of 90 million people in order to bend a nation's conduct to your will is grossly morally wrong," Murphy said on X. "It is evil. And we should say this loudly."

• Sen. Mark Warner labeled it "twisted and unhinged" and asked, "Is this really the way world affairs should be dictated in the 21st century by the rantings of someone?"
• "Donald Trump is deranged," said Sen. Ron Wyden. "He must be impeached and removed from office. Republicans who don't stop him will have blood on their hands, and anyone who carries out an order to bomb civilian targets will be complicit in war crimes and will be held accountable."
• Dozens of House Democrats—including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Sarah McBride, Ro Khanna, and Summer Lee—said Trump should be removed from office, either via impeachment or through the 25th Amendment, which allows for sidelining a president deemed unable to fulfill the duties of the job. Top Democrats including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for lawmakers to return to Washington to vote on ending the war, saying it is necessary to stop the "completely unhinged" president before he "plunges the country into World War III," the Wall Street Journal reports.

• Other Democrats zeroed in on what, exactly, Trump was threatening. Rep. Joaquin Castro said the reference to destroying Iranian civilization suggests either consideration of nuclear weapons or a desire to make Iran think so, and pressed the administration for clarity. Rep. Jim McGovern argued that any order to carry out a "genocidal" strike would be illegal under US and international law and must be refused by the military.
• On the Republican side, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of the loudest voices condemning Trump's remarks. On X, she called for the use of the 25th Amendment, saying, "Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness." Conservative commentators including Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones also spoke out against Trump's remarks.
• Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, a Trump ally, said Monday that he hoped Trump's earlier threats to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants were "bluster," USA Today reports. "I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure," he said. "I do not want to see that."