Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., went on the attack against Pete Hegseth during a late-night TV appearance, calling the War secretary "totally unqualified" and dismissing the uproar over the "illegal orders" video he helped craft.
Kelly made the comments on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that aired Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, Hegseth blasted Kelly and the five other Democrat lawmakers for "sowing doubt" among U.S. service members.
"I don't know Pete Hegseth well. I sit on the committee that ultimately had to confirm him, so I know a little about his background. He's totally unqualified," Kelly said on Kimmel.
Kelly still voted to advance Hegseth's nomination out of the Senate Armed Services Committee, even though he later opposed him on the final confirmation vote.
"Nothing against journalists, they play a very important role in our society, but he is not qualified for this job. And from what I can tell in talking to some of my Republican colleagues, I mean, he just wants to please the president," Kelly added.
Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and four other Democrats sparked controversy last week with a video urging military and intelligence personnel to ignore what they claimed were "illegal orders."
Hegseth on Tuesday said their instruction "carries a different weight inside the military."
"As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically motivated influence operation," Hegseth said in a post on X.
The Department of War on Monday signaled that it's considering potential legal action against Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot and former NASA astronaut.
"He can 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," Kelly told Kimmel.
"It is so ridiculous. It's almost like you can't make this s*** up," he told Kimmel.
Kelly told Kimmel how he first learned of Trump's reaction to the video, recalling that he and Slotkin were in a briefing when a staffer slipped her a note.
"Somebody comes in during the brief, hands her a piece of paper, and I look at it," Kelly said. "It says, 'The president is calling for your execution' — directed at Elissa. She looks at me, walks out, and five minutes later comes back and says, 'Well, he's calling for your execution too.' So I wasn't off the hook."
Trump never directly called for their execution. His posts instead read: "Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL," adding the broader context: "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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