Democratic Senator Mark Kelly sharply criticized President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in recent public appearances and interviews, accusing them of abusing their power and attempting to intimidate him over a video in which he and other Democrats urged service members to refuse illegal orders. Kelly has vowed not to back down.
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, has escalated his criticism of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing them of trying to silence him over his role in a video reminding military personnel of their obligation to disobey unlawful commands.
In a series of televised interviews and public remarks, Kelly has said he will not be intimidated by Trump or Hegseth. “I’m not going to be bullied, especially by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” according to The Center Square. He has also argued that both men care more about publicity than the rule of law and are using investigations to send a broader message of intimidation.
The controversy centers on a video released in November in which Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers, most of them military veterans, urged service members to “refuse illegal orders” and follow the law. Newsmax and other outlets report that the Trump administration condemned the video as seditious, with Trump posting on social media that the lawmakers should be “ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” adding that such “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” is “punishable by DEATH.” Although Trump did not explicitly call for Kelly’s execution by name, Kelly has said he was informed that the president’s posts were being interpreted as calls for executions.
In response, Hegseth ordered an investigation into Kelly and his colleagues, citing potential violations of military law if they were recalled to active duty. The Guardian and other outlets have reported that Hegseth directed the Navy to review the lawmakers’ comments and that the Pentagon opened a probe into whether Kelly’s remarks could be prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Speaking on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, Kelly said Hegseth could “go after me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the law in the military, which is kind of wild, because we recited something in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he is going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” according to Newsmax’s account of the interview. Kelly characterized the situation as “so ridiculous” that “it’s almost like you can’t make this stuff up,” and he described Hegseth as “totally unqualified” for his post.
Kelly has also contrasted his own military and public service record with Trump’s business and media career. In a press conference on Capitol Hill, he recounted serving in combat and in space while, in his view, Trump focused on casinos, reality television and personal promotion. “I’ve been through a lot worse in service to my country. The president and Pete Hegseth aren’t going to silence me,” he said, according to a statement released by his Senate office and subsequent coverage by outlets including AOL and Just the News.
Kelly has repeatedly framed the dispute as a test of constitutional principles rather than partisan loyalty. On “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, he said the intent of the disputed video was to affirm that members of the military must follow the law, not any individual leader. “We have loyalty — my oath, and every oath every member of the military took, is loyalty to the Constitution, not to a person,” he said in comments reported by TheWrap.
While the original article appeared to describe these remarks as coming from a single town hall in Tucson, Arizona, current public reporting instead shows that Kelly’s strongest criticisms of Trump and Hegseth — including his descriptions of Hegseth as unqualified and the investigation as “ridiculous” — were delivered in national television interviews, a Capitol Hill press conference and other media appearances. No major outlet has reported a Tucson town hall in which Kelly used the specific “crappy reality TV show with bad ratings” phrasing or recounted his wife’s reaction to Hegseth’s comments, and those quotes could not be independently verified. As a result, this rewritten account focuses on statements confirmed across multiple reputable sources, while preserving the central facts: Kelly believes Trump and Hegseth are abusing their positions, he views the probe as politically motivated, and he insists he will not back down from criticizing the administration or defending what he sees as the military’s duty to refuse unlawful orders.