Sen. Mark Warner: “[Trump] Threatening to end an entire civilization is beyond depraved”

See below for reactions by Virginia leaders – and others, like Paul Krugman – to Trump’s “unhinged,” out-of-control,” “criminal” threat to “end an entire civilization.”  As Paul Krugman says: “This is America’s darkest hour…at some level I think that the civilization that may be destroyed tonight is our own. I mean, are we civilized if we do this kind of thing? If America as a nation doesn’t stand up against this, what are we?”

• “Threatening to end an entire civilization is beyond depraved. Where are Republicans? Will they speak out against this open threat to commit war crimes or continue their reckless, dangerous silence?” – Sen. Mark Warner

• “Unhinged. Out of control. Criminal. It’s past time for Congress to end Trump’s dangerous war in Iran before it and he spirals even further out of control. Republican leaders will explain this away, as they always do. But they won’t be able to escape the moral and political responsibility they hold for enabling this lunatic.” – Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11)

• “When the president fires anyone who dares to stand up to him, you’re left with yes-men and sycophants who are willing to rubber-stamp even his most dangerous and unlawful ideas. As a former Army JAG, let me answer this for you, @SecRubio — YES.” – Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07)

• Fmr. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02): “This President is unhinged. The Republican Party just retweeted this lunatic’s rant and is complicit. My neighbors and former shipmates are in the Middle East and they deserve a Commander in Chief who doesn’t threaten genocide to end his war of choice.”

• VA State Sen. Saddam Salim: “This man must be stopped.The President of the United States of America is threatening genocide. He is spiraling and taking all of us with him. Invoke the 25th!”

• VA07 Democratic candidate JP Cooney:

• Fmr. Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05): “Congress has failed in their primary constitutional responsibility of checking a barking mad POTUS. Words fail real Americans, the sane, when looking at a sexual abuser President rambling about destroying a civilization. Are there any decent republican reps left?”

Beyer Demands Speaker Johnson Reconvene House as Trump Escalates Sick, Murderous Threats 

April 7, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today released the following statement after President Trump announced his intention to further escalate the conflict in Iran and explicitly commit war crimes by targeting Iranian civilian infrastructure:

“My Republican colleagues in Congress continue to abdicate their duty and turn a blind eye as the President makes unhinged threats to obliterate an entire civilization in clear violation of basic human decency and American ideals. This is a moral failure and cowardice of the highest order. Speaker Johnson must bring the House of Representatives back into session immediately to reclaim its constitutional authority, serve as a desperately needed check on this increasingly erratic president, and vote on a War Powers Resolution to put an end to this madness at once.

 “For decades, across both parties and all three branches of government, we have collectively failed to rein in the expansion of presidential power. Authority that the Constitution explicitly entrusted to Congress has steadily been ceded to the executive, eroding one of the most fundamental checks in our system. The Supreme Court compounded this failure by granting sweeping immunity to the President, further insulating the office from accountability. Today, that unchecked power rests in the hands of an immoral and unwell man willing to wield it recklessly, and the world is holding its breath. 

“We have missed multiple opportunities to stop us from careening down this awful path. Senate Republicans confirmed a longtime advocate for war crimes and war criminals to be Secretary of Defense, despite his manifest unfitness for the job. Congress failed to stop unlawful boat strikes in the Caribbean that have killed dozens, many of them innocent fishermen, and in doing so allowed a dangerous precedent to take hold. When my colleagues who served in uniform sought to remind their fellow servicemembers of their duty to oppose illegal orders, the administration’s response was to attempt to prosecute and sanction them. The message from Secretary Hegseth and President Trump has been a clear and consistent endorsement of impunity for criminal acts under the color of our flag. And Republicans in the House and Senate have pulled out all the stops on multiple occasions to defeat War Powers Resolutions that would have stopped this war. Now, the President is emboldened and untethered from consequences. He is escalating threats that, if carried out, would constitute egregious war crimes committed on behalf of the United States government and the American people. This moment demands urgent congressional intervention. 

“The American people are under no illusion about the gravity of this moment. They know this is not normal, not justified, and not making us safer. They expect their elected representatives to decisively act, not retreat into silence out of blind allegiance to the President. 

“The House cannot continue to stand idly by as this crisis deepens. I again call on Speaker Johnson to immediately bring the House back into session and ensure that this President does not further dishonor our country by carrying out this blatantly illegal and immoral threat.”

Paul Krugman:

“This is America’s darkest hour…Earlier today, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, ‘A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.’ Not going to be a problem if we ever do get the war crimes trial that all of this deserves. Statement of motive intent is completely clear. I don’t need to say how vile it is. It’s is shocking. Although at some level if you didn’t see this as a real possibility then you weren’t paying attention.

Not much to say here except that to talk about how those of us who are not Donald Trump should behave. First of all, any military commander given orders to start destroying civilian infrastructure in Iran should disobey that order…not even quiet resignation. This is a time to stand up and make it clear that this is totally unacceptable. This is a violation of everything that the military stands for. It’s a violation of everything that America stands for.

Second, any member of the Trump administration to continue in your position doing your job as Trump takes America on the course of becoming a criminal nation, a criminal terrorist nation, you cannot continue in good conscience…particularly if you play any role in in making this happen, then you are a war criminal too, then you ought to be brought up some day before an international tribunal. But even if you’re in a peripheral role, I mean, even just putting your head down and saying, ‘well, I’m I’m an assistant secretary at the agriculture department or something like that’, that’s not good enough. This is this is not a regime that you can serve in good conscience.

Republican politicians – any Republican, I mean there are people already saying oh you know I don’t approve of destroying civilizations but that makes you an accessory to the crime if you are failing to stand up against it. And I really don’t like this notion that only Democrats have agency; this is a very common thing…all of this is made possible by the lockstep, slavish obedience of Republicans. Nonetheless, Democrats have a role here, too. And this is not a time to attack Trump’s war because it costs too much money or to attack it because it’s bad for energy markets or raises the price of of groceries. I mean, it does do all of that. All of that is true, but this has gotten way past that point now. We’re at the point where you need to unambiguously condemn the immorality and criminality of what’s going on. No mincing of words.

Damned if I know what’s going to happen. I mean, at some level I think that the civilization that may be destroyed tonight is our own. I mean, are we civilized if we do this kind of thing? If America as a nation doesn’t stand up against this, what are we? So, God help. I mean, you know, normal life will continue. It’s going to be a really weird thing to be out there, you know, grocery shopping and taking the subway and all of those things. But this is, in a way, the defining moment. The the fate of the whole American idea is on the line. I have no idea how this ends.”