Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum put Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) on the defensive Wednesday during a tense interview on The Story, pressing him repeatedly to identify a single “unlawful order” issued by President Donald Trump — the supposed justification for a video Crow helped produce urging military members to defy such orders.
Crow, an Army Ranger veteran, joined several other Democratic lawmakers — many with military or intelligence backgrounds — in recording a video warning service members not to obey “unlawful orders.” The unmistakable implication was that Trump had either given such orders in the past or was poised to do so in a possible future administration.
MacCallum, seeking clarity, immediately challenged Crow on this premise. “What law are you talking about that’s being broken?” she asked. “You said he’s ‘implying’ that he might do something that they wouldn’t want to uphold or follow through with in the future. What are you talking about specifically?”
Crow responded by citing the Lafayette Square protests during Trump’s first term, claiming Trump said, “Can’t you just shoot them? Can’t you just shoot them in the legs or something?” MacCallum, visibly perplexed, pointed out that Crow’s example was not an order at all. “That was not a military order, that was a comment,” she noted. “That’s not a military order.”
Crow insisted Trump’s alleged comment amounted to a “request” and therefore should be viewed as a de facto directive because it came from a president.
Democrat Rep. Jason Crow is asked FOUR TIMES what "illegal orders" he and his Democrat colleagues are referring to in their video calling for an insurrection.
He can't answer — because they are lying. pic.twitter.com/vNQGGOegEQ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 19, 2025
MacCallum pressed again for a concrete example. Instead, Crow moved to his “number two” claim: that Trump had “threatened to send the military into Chicago and other cities to ‘go to war’ with those cities.” Then came his “number three”: that Trump “alluded” to sending troops to polling stations, which Crow argued was illegal under U.S. criminal law.
Each time, MacCallum pointed out that Crow was relying not on actual orders but on “allusions,” “comments,” and speculative interpretations — none of which amounted to any service member being told to commit an unlawful act. “You’re not talking about actual policy,” she said. “You haven’t mentioned anything that service members have actually been asked to do.”
MacCallum then offered her own example of a lawful military directive: efforts under the Trump administration to intercept drug-running boats before they reached the United States. “Are you talking about not allowing gunboats to make it to the United States carrying drugs?” she asked. “Is that what you’re talking about?”
Crow dismissed the line of questioning with sarcasm. “Martha, here’s a novel idea. How about we actually prevent things from happening before they become a problem.”
MacCallum pushed back, pointing out that interdiction efforts were precisely an attempt to prevent problems before they reached American shores. Crow, shifting again, claimed that the video was merely meant to “prepare” service members for hypothetical future problems.
MacCallum made one final attempt to pin him down: “What specific order from the Commander in Chief, that we are asking our military to carry out, are you objecting to?”
Crow offered no new information — only the same broad references to “disturbing comments,” leaving MacCallum’s central question still unanswered.
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