A senator Donald Trump claims should be hanged has blasted a bizarre new plot by the defense secretary to have him returned to active duty so that he can be court-martialed.
“This is not about the law. This is about the media cycle, and it’s about intimidation,” Mark Kelly, who’s also the Senate’s only astronaut, told The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.
“The whole thing is almost comical,” he went on. “It’s absurd.”
Kelly is one of six Democratic officials, including fellow Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Rep. Chris Deluzio, who released a video reminding members of the armed forces not to obey “illegal orders” from the MAGA administration.
The response from Trump, 79, was explosive even by the president’s notoriously bombastic standards.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he raged on Truth Social, later resharing a post from one of his followers that read, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!”
Though the president’s allies have tried to minimize the threat, Trump has continued to insist “those traitorous sons of b—hes” are in “serious trouble,” and that the Pentagon and Justice Department are presently investigating whether the clip is punishable by law.
The Department of Defense said Monday it had received “serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.),” and that a “thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administration measures.”
Dubbing Kelly and his Democratic colleagues the “Seditious Six,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also since called the video “despicable, reckless and false” in a post on X, adding “their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion—which only puts our warriors in danger.”
Kelly, 61, is a retired naval captain. In his interview with MSNBC, Kelly could not have appeared less fazed, noting that in his career as a naval officer during the first Gulf war and later as an astronaut with NASA, he’s had “a missile blow up next to my airplane,” been “shot down” and “nearly shot down multiple times,” and “flown a rocket ship into space four times.”
He further pointed out that his wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, had herself already been a victim of political violence, resigning in 2012 after sustaining severe brain injury during a shooting in Tucson.
“Shot in the head, six people killed around her,” Kelly said. “We know what political violence is, and we know what causes it too. The statements that Donald Trump made incite others. He’s got millions of supporters.
“People listen to what he says, more so than anybody else in the country. He should be careful with his words, but I’m not going to be silenced here,” he went on. “I’m going to show up for work every day, support the Constitution, do my job, hold this administration accountable. Hold this president accountable when he is out of line. That’s the responsibility of every U.S. Senator and every member of Congress. He’s not going to silence us.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the DOD for comment on this story.
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