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Are there any Jason Crow videos advocating for military members to not follow orders against Obama and Biden?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows Rep. Jason Crow participated in a short video with several other Democratic lawmakers reminding service members they may refuse "illegal orders" and urging them to uphold their oath to the Constitution; the video does not, in those accounts, single out Barack Obama or Joe Biden for directives to disobey, though Crow has said he has “pushed back” on multiple presidents in other contexts [1] [2]. The video triggered criticism from Republicans, drew attention from the Justice Department and the White House, and prompted follow‑up interviews in which Crow defended the message as a reminder about the Uniform Code of Military Justice [3] [1].
1. What the video actually said and who made it
Journalistic accounts describe a roughly 90‑second social media video led by Sen. Elissa Slotkin in which six members of Congress with military or intelligence backgrounds — including Rep. Jason Crow — told current service members and intelligence officers they “can refuse illegal orders” and urged them to “stand up for our laws and our Constitution” [1] [4]. Multiple outlets note the message was framed as a reminder of oath obligations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not as an instruction to refuse lawful presidential orders [1] [5].
2. Did Crow tell troops to disobey orders from Obama or Biden specifically?
Available accounts show Crow has said he has “pushed back on Joe Biden, I pushed back on Donald Trump. I pushed back on Barack Obama” when pressed on examples, but the reported video content and the coverage of it do not document Crow urging troops specifically to refuse orders from Barack Obama or Joe Biden by name in the viral message [2] [6]. The core video message, as reported, addressed unlawful orders broadly rather than naming specific presidents or directives [1] [4].
3. Legal and institutional reactions reported
News outlets say the video worried some officials: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged internal concern, and DOJ and White House officials publicly reacted — with reporting that Crow pushed back against what he called an overreaction and that the episode raised questions about civil‑military boundaries [7] [3]. Republican leaders and the president publicly criticized the lawmakers, with some calling the video reckless or even using extreme rhetoric; local and national outlets recorded those condemnations [8] [4].
4. Crow’s public defense and examples he cited
In follow‑up interviews Crow defended the video as reminding troops of their legal duties under the UCMJ and the Constitution. He has offered hypothetical examples — such as being ordered to shoot peaceful protestors or to position troops at polling stations — as the type of unlawful directives service members should refuse; reporting also quotes him saying the reminder was necessary given perceived threats to democratic norms [1] [9]. Crow and his allies say the message was not partisan instruction to disobey any lawful commander‑in‑chief [10].
5. How reporters and commentators differ on framing
Conservative outlets and opinion sites portray the video as a direct incitement for soldiers to disobey presidential orders and frame Crow’s comments as dangerous or seditious [2] [11] [12]. Mainstream and local outlets present a mixed picture: they document both the video’s text (a general reminder about illegal orders) and the political flashpoint it created, including threats Crow reported receiving and the DOJ’s heightened attention [5] [7] [4]. Opinion pieces vary from defending the lawmakers as upholding constitutional duty to condemning them as recklessly politicizing the military [10] [12].
6. What is not established in the supplied reporting
Available sources do not present a verbatim transcript of every line Crow said beyond the group message, nor do they show Crow explicitly telling troops in the viral video to refuse orders from Barack Obama or Joe Biden by name; specific examples tied to those presidents are mentioned by Crow in interviews or paraphrase but not documented as lines from the original group video in the cited coverage [2] [1]. The sources also do not include any formal legal finding that the video constituted criminal conduct — they describe debate, political backlash, and DOJ interest [7] [3].
7. Bottom line for your question
Based on the provided reporting, Jason Crow joined a group video urging service members to refuse illegal orders and later said he had “pushed back” on multiple presidents in other contexts, but the accounts do not show him in the viral message explicitly advocating that troops disobey orders from Barack Obama or Joe Biden by name; instead, the video and Crow’s public statements are framed as a general reminder about refusing unlawful commands under the UCMJ and the Constitution [1] [2] [3].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the supplied articles; available sources do not include the full original video transcript or every Crow statement, so some nuance about his exact phrasing may be missing from this summary [7] [5].