President Donald Trump‘s violent threats aimed at several Democrats, and specifically Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), have now positioned the lawmaker for a potential presidential run in 2028, a commentator said Monday.
In an analysis published by Salon’s Jason Kyle Howard on Monday, the writer described why Trump’s move could be a “potential risk” for Republicans after the president had a vicious response to a Nov.18 video featuring Kelly, a retired Navy captain and combat pilot, and five other Democrats — all veterans and former intelligence personnel — who gave a direct message to veterans: “You can refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
Trump took to Truth Social and called the Democratic lawmakers “traitors” who should be imprisoned or face the death penalty. Later, he denied that he made those threats.
And then on Nov. 24, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon was investigating if Kelly had violated military law, saying the Arizona senator could be called back to active duty and could face “court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.” The next day, an FBI probe was reportedly underway to investigate “the lawmakers’ conduct.” The agency apparently wanted to schedule interviews with each of the six lawmakers in the video.
But the series of attacks has backfired on the Trump administration and Kelly has used the maneuvers to his advantage, making television appearances, sending out fundraising emails and speaking out against the president, Howard wrote. He “also seized the opportunity to go on the offense and talk about other issues.”
“By virtue of the Pentagon investigation, as well as rumors of his presidential ambitions, Kelly has received the lion’s share of attention,” Howard wrote. “That’s bad news for Republicans and constitutes a major error on the part of Trump, whose actions have had unintended consequences: He has elevated Kelly as a potential 2028 rival, if not for himself then for his MAGA successor, whether that ends up being Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump Jr. — who’s in second place behind Vance according to a recent poll — or even Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently announced her retirement from Congress.”
Trump might not have considered how his attacks on Kelly would pan out and how Americans would react.
“For all his achievements, Kelly is not a natural showman. A sober presence in interviews and on the stump, he has tended to fade into the background in the Senate,” Howard explained. “But Kelly also has an unquantifiable quality that more voters, at least over the past couple of decades, have associated with Republican politicians: BDE. This understated confidence is something that Trump, with his hurricane of narcissism and swagger, has never possessed. It’s a trait that has been on full display in every interview Kelly has given since he became the target of the administration’s ire.”
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