<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBsTw9By0X4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Speaking</a> at a town hall in Tucson, Arizona, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly mocked President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, saying Trump was “asleep at the wheel” while calling Hegseth a “joke.”
“It feels to me that at every turn, this president is working against the American people,” Kelly told the crowd. “What I have seen from the Secretary of Defense and the president is not normal.”
“He sticks a full force of the DOD, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, on me for saying something that&#8217;s in the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Kelly protested, referring to the video he and five other Democrats released urging troops to disobey orders they deemed to be unlawful. “You cannot make this stuff up. This is how ridiculous these people are, how unprofessional, how unqualified.”
“If he thinks I&#8217;m going to back down, he&#8217;s lost his mind,” Kelly boasted, adding, “He&#8217;s got a couple options. One of them is just go take a hike. That&#8217;s what I ultimately expect him to do. Or he could try to prosecute me, but I&#8217;m not going away because I&#8217;m standing up for everybody, not only myself.”
“They&#8217;re doing a lot of bad stuff,” he declared. “I mean, I&#8217;d put this on a list. It&#8217;ll be somewhere on a list of maybe 50 things. I&#8217;m not going to go through them. But let me tell you what he&#8217;s not doing. That&#8217;s even more important. What the president is not doing. This guy is literally asleep at the wheel &#8230; He has turned the United States government into a crappy reality TV show with bad ratings. And it&#8217;s time to turn it off,” Kelly stated.
Turning to Hegseth, he stated, “You&#8217;ll appreciate this. When Pete Hegseth tweeted that he was going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I see this tweet. I take out my phone and I read it verbatim to Gabby. And by the second sentence, she starts laughing. She laughed and laughed. She laughed through the whole thing. Because she realizes two things. One: That guy&#8217;s a joke. And number two. I&#8217;m not backing down.”
“When we win back the House and maybe even the Senate, we get the subpoena power. We can have hearings to hold this administration accountable for the awful stuff that they&#8217;re doing,” he threatened.
“The president doesn&#8217;t care about the law,” he declared. “When you give this guy this kind of power, and we knew what he was going to do with it. I mean, he was going to abuse every lever of power that he has. He&#8217;s trying to do it against me personally right now.”

Sen. Kelly Speaks On President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth At US Capitol

Sen. Mark Kelly Attacks Trump And Hegseth In Heated Rant, Says He ‘Won’t Back Down’

Donald Trump

Mark Kelly

Pete Hegseth

Democrats have hit upon a two-pronged strategy for 2028. 
One of the strategies is to make members of the military truly uncomfortable about following their orders. The Democrats apparently believe that this will somehow create unrest and chaos. I don&#8217;t know how else to explain why Democrats are now suddenly coming out of the woodwork to suggest that a bunch of illegal orders are being issued from the Trump administration that members of the military must now consider.
When Democrats such as Senator Mark Kelly or Senator Elissa Slotkin from Michigan say to soldiers, to airmen, to members of the Navy, “If you guys follow an illegal order, you will be punished,” but then don&#8217;t define “illegal order,” what they are doing is creating a Catch-22 situation.
That’s because if people follow orders, they&#8217;re protected in the moment. But down the road, some Democrat may be elected and declare retroactively that those orders were illegal, members of the military should not have obeyed them, and they could end up court-martialed. 
Thus, it’s a Catch-22 for members of the military. That is why it is so negative. 
All of that is prong number one in the Democratic strategy; a chaos strategy with regard to military orders. 
Prong number two is setting up an entire slate of possible Democratic nominees who appear to be moderate.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2325-war-crime-hegseth-s-narcoterror-missile-strike-draws-fire?elementPosition=7&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
One of the big questions in the aftermath of President Trump winning his second term was: Will Democrats shift over to the Zohran Mamdani Left, or are they going to move toward a more moderate middle? Are they going to jettison much of their culture war baggage or start talking about trans, or are they going to stop talking about trans?: Are they going to up the ante on DEI or move away from DEI?
By all indicators, it appears the Democrats are not being morons. It appears that while people like Zohran Mamdani may be winning in places like New York and deep blue areas, what the Democrats are actually attempting to do is play moderate.
It seems that more and more often, they&#8217;re playing dead on the trans issue. It&#8217;s seemingly disappeared from the Democratic lexicon.
You don&#8217;t hear Democrats talking about “equity” in the same way that they were even a year and a half ago, when this was the be-all, end-all of American politics. 
Even on immigration, Democrats have taken a more moderate middle line. They&#8217;re no longer arguing, along with AOC, that ICE ought to be disbanded.
They&#8217;re not arguing anymore that the police ought to be defunded.
Instead, what they seem to be doing is arguing that President Trump is largely right on the southern border. They say he&#8217;s being overzealous in the prosecution of illegal immigrants who they say have not committed crimes. 
Democrats seem to be — at least in image — turning toward the middle.
That’s part of what is going on with the controversy swirling around Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
To recap, last week, there was a report from The Washington Post. It argued that the White House had, via Hegseth, given a direct order to basically blow away members of narco-trafficking cartels in the water after they were already put out of commission.
Supposedly, Hegseth ordered everyone to be killed, up to and including survivors who were in the water clinging to the wreckage of the burning boat. This raised some fairly significant legal issues because, as it turns out, under the laws of war, under the Geneva Conventions, and under American law, you are not supposed to kill people who are no longer in the fight.
The 1949 Geneva Conventions, ratified by the United States, <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gci-1949/article-3">state</a>:
<blockquote>Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat (out of combat) by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction based on race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above persons: violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture …</blockquote>
In other words, you can&#8217;t take somebody as a P.O.W. and shoot them. Under the Geneva Conventions, there is no policy of “We take no prisoners.”
There is the possibility that these people would not be considered hors de combat, depending on the condition of the boat; the boat may have been dead in the water, but at the same time, they could call their narco-trafficking friends. That is one possible defense.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karoline-leavitt-says-hegseth-didnt-order-second-strike-on-narco-terrorists-boat">this statement</a>:
<blockquote>President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially-designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war. With respect to the strikes in question on September 2nd, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated. </blockquote>
The contention here is that there was a general order given to take out the boat, and that possibly Admiral Bradley is the person who actually gave the order to conduct a second strike, if, in fact, a second strike was conducted.
The New York Times published a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/us/hegseth-drug-boat-strike-order-venezuela.html">follow-up piece</a> in which they seemed to admit that Hegseth did not give a general kill order, especially for people who were already hors de combat.
All of this seems like a convenient way of simply providing support to the Democrats who released the video that told members of the military not to obey orders.
This feels ginned up.
It feels as though The Washington Post went ahead and reported a story on extraordinarily thin sourcing to create the possibility of an illegal order that, it turns out, may not have been illegal at all, in order to provide support for the Democratic narrative that this administration is lawless, and that only a moderate military veteran who might be running in 2028 can step into the breach.
This feels like the predicate for a move by the Democratic Party to elevate somebody like Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut who tends to portray himself as a moderate, even though he voted with Joe Biden in the Senate almost all of the time.
The Democrats are not going to burn themselves down by openly championing the leftist causes they truly believe in.
They’ll wait until they gain power before they turn on that spigot.

hegsethkelly

The Democratic Party’s Two-Pronged 2028 Strategy: Military Chaos, Moderate Messaging

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Department of War

narco-terrorism

Opinion

U.S. Navy

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) claimed on Sunday that he was worried American troops might only learn after the fact that an order they had carried out was unlawful.
Kelly, already under fire for his participation in a video that encouraged members of the military to question the validity of their orders in real time, doubled down during a Sunday morning appearance on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) went on NBC and told active-duty U.S. military members that if they follow orders to strike drug-smuggling boats they might be committing illegal acts and could be prosecuted later.
He said troops “may find out down the road that they did something that… <a href="https://t.co/4gsRmkRbR0">pic.twitter.com/4gsRmkRbR0</a>
— Media Lies (@MediasLies) <a href="https://twitter.com/MediasLies/status/1995504474161365328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I want to put the question to you,&#8221; anchor Kristen Welker began. &#8220;If you were still in uniform, if you received an order to strike suspected drug boats overseas and kill everybody onboard, would you refuse that order in real time?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, let me start by saying I&#8217;ve sunk two boats — two ships,&#8221; Kelly replied, referencing his own actions during the first Gulf War. &#8220;Never once did I question whether those orders were legal or illegal. People can tell the difference — should be able to tell the difference between something that is unlawful and something that is lawful.&#8221;
&#8220;If I was ever given an unlawful order, I would refuse — you know, even if you have time, you can certainly go to the Judge Advocate Generals, the lawyers, and have a discussion about it,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;If you don&#8217;t have time, you just say simply I&#8217;m not going to do that, that&#8217;s against the law.&#8221;
&#8220;It puts a lot of burden on the troops to make a decision in real time,&#8221; Welker observed.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a tremendous amount of burden on officers in the military,&#8221; Kelly agreed. &#8220;But that is their responsibility, and they can figure out — you know, a reasonable person can tell something that is legal and something that is illegal.&#8221;
Welker asked again, directly, whether Kelly would refuse the orders to strike drug boats.
Kelly did not offer a definitive answer, but instead said that he worried about troops who &#8220;may find out down the road that they did something that is illegal&#8221; because they acted on an order that reflected &#8220;the whims of a president&#8221; rather than law.
Thus far, there has been no <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/does-the-president-have-the-authority-to-strike-venezuelan-drug-boats">real consensus</a> regarding the legality of the strikes.

958A875C-CA84-4009-8B0E-B0EE1A949445_1_201_a

Mark Kelly Encourages Active Military To Question Orders In Real Time

Mark Kelly Doubles Down, Encourages Active Military To Question Orders In Real Time

Media

Military

Politics

Sports journalist Stephen A. Smith, a Democrat who nonetheless sometimes espouses perspectives at odds with the Democratic Party, <a href="https://grabien.com/story?id=558294&amp;utm_source=cliplist&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=cliplist20251127&amp;utm_content=story558294">slammed</a> Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for participating in a video calling for military servicemembers to defy unlawful orders from their superiors.
Last week, a group of six Democrats, comprised of two senators and four members of the House, released an incendiary video in which they encouraged members of the military and intelligence community to disobey illegal orders they receive from the Trump administration.
Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), along with Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), and Jason Crow (D-CO), all former members of the military, encouraged military members to “refuse illegal orders.”
“The administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the Democrat lawmakers claimed. “Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, right now.”
The Democrats accused the Trump administration of disrespecting constitutional guardrails, continuing, “The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.”
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“Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders,” they pronounced, reiterating, “You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
Smith targeted Kelly, saying, “Respectfully, senator, what the hell are you doing looking into the camera and telling military men and women to ignore the commander-in-chief? How dare you? How dare you do that? That’s right, I&#8217;m calling it out.”
“I never served in the military,” he continued. “That&#8217;s true. I have family members who did. Some of my best friends have, Marines, Air Force, Navy, Army. I haven’t heard one of them, not one of them, say that was okay. How dare you do that?”
“Is it treason? No. Is it punishable by death? It shouldn&#8217;t be,” he said, in an apparent reference to President Donald Trump’s response to the video. “So the answer is no. But you know better, Senator Kelly. You know better! How dare you do that?! What are you supposed to do? You are a ranking senator. You could go to the Senate, you could go to the House, you could put up — draw up paperwork, you could try to start articles of impeachment if you think there&#8217;s something illegal.”
“I mean, damn, it ain&#8217;t like y&#8217;all haven’t done it before,” he pointed out. “You impeached the man twice. Where did that get you? Guy is behind, back in the White House. Had you left him alone in 2016 and 2020, maybe he wouldn&#8217;t be back terrorizing the Democratic Party the way that he is. But you did it! You did it! And here you are again with this nonsense. How dare you do that? I’m not a military person, and I know better than that! You don&#8217;t tell military men and women to ignore an order from the commander-in-chief. You don&#8217;t do that.”

MixCollage-27-Nov-2025-09-46-AM-5838

Stephen A. Smith Blasts Mark Kelly For Video Urging Troops To ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’

Stephen A. Smith

U.S. Military

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) doubled down on the viral video he made with five of his colleagues, saying that he had no intention of backing off despite a pending inquiry into his comments.
Kelly addressed the issue during an appearance on &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live,&#8221; telling the late-night host that he stood by what he&#8217;d said in the video, which he claimed was intended to caution members of the military to follow only lawful orders from President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 BREAKING: Seditious Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly has cooked himself even FURTHER, running to Jimmy Kimmel and telling Pete Hegseth and President Trump he’ll KEEP pushing for rebellion
“I’m NOT backing down!” 🤯
Court-martial this traitor. Enough.
<a href="https://t.co/aoUDgjLyYg">pic.twitter.com/aoUDgjLyYg</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1993653787442266433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I mean, you can&#8217;t keep track of this guy and what he says,&#8221; Kelly said, apparently referring to Trump. &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you this though: I&#8217;m not backing down.&#8221;
The audience cheered, and Kelly continued, &#8220;I mean, we said something very simple. Members of the military need to follow the law. We wanted to say that we have their backs.&#8221;
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What Kelly left out was the fact that in the video, clearly implied in their admonitions to &#8220;only obey lawful orders,&#8221; was the notion that President Trump either already had or would certainly issue one or more orders that were not lawful — and that they should be actively looking for them.
War Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-hegseth-unloads-on-insurrection-video-a-politically-motivated-influence-operation">Pete Hegseth</a> referred to it as &#8220;a politically-motivated influence operation&#8221; and argued that it was designed to sow doubt in the minds of service members and plant the seeds of insurrection. He, along with others, noted that Kelly was the only one of the &#8220;Seditious Six&#8221; who had retired from military service and was still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and could therefore be returned to active duty to face repercussions for his actions. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/politics/call-for-rebellion-stephen-miller-scorches-dems-for-pushing-insurrection-against-trumps-military-orders/">described</a> it as &#8220;insurrection.&#8221;
Kimmel, only too happy to carry Kelly&#8217;s water, lamented the fact that the Arizona senator would now have to take time away from serving the people of his state to hire attorneys and deal with the consequences of his actions.
&#8220;[You have to] consult with lawyers, and have to deal with this when you&#8217;re first of all working for the people of Arizona, the people of the United States,&#8221; Kimmel said. &#8220;Now you actually have to spend your time — are you actually, like, worried about this?&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been through a lot more challenging things than this,&#8221; Kelly said, waving away the concern. &#8220;What I&#8217;m worried about is the reaction and what this transmits to the military and the public, which is basically, &#8216;Shut up, and listen to that guy.'&#8221;
Kelly continued down that same path, noting that service members swear an oath to the Constitution while insinuating that President Trump — who also swore such an oath — was likely to violate that and order them to do the same.

Jimmy Kimmel

Surprise! Jimmy Kimmel Throwing His Support Behind The ‘Seditious Six’

Surprise! Jimmy Kimmel Throwing His Support Behind The 'Seditious Six'

insurrection

War Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an earful to a small group of Democrats — most of whom were veterans of the United States Armed Services — who created a video that appeared to be actively encouraging current service members to disobey orders from President Donald Trump.
In the video in question, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/despicable-reckless-and-false-hegseth-coins-new-nickname-for-dems-pushing-military-insurrection">six Democrats</a> — former CIA analyst and Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) along with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — called on members of the military to seriously consider whether or not orders coming from the White House were “lawful&#8221; and clearly insinuated that they might not be.
Hegseth laid into the six lawmakers in a post on Tuesday, pointing out that even though civilians might not think anything of the things they&#8217;d said, military service members should know better.
&#8220;The despicable video urging @DeptofWar troops to &#8216;refuse illegal orders&#8217; may seem harmless to civilians — but it carries a different weight inside the military,&#8221; Hegseth explained. &#8220;This was a politically-motivated influence operation: It never named a specific &#8216;illegal order&#8217;; It created ambiguity rather than clarity; It used carefully scripted, legal-sounding language; It subtly reframed military obedience around partisan distrust instead of established legal processes.&#8221;
&#8220;In the military, vague rhetoric and ambiguity undermines trust, creates hesitation in the chain of command, and erodes cohesion,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;The military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. It does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command. As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation. The @DeptofWar won’t fall for it or stand for it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The despicable video urging <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeptofWar</a> troops to “refuse illegal orders” may seem harmless to civilians — but it carries a different weight inside the military.
This was a politically-motivated influence operation:
☑️ It never named a specific “illegal order.” 
☑️ It created…
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1993304935874592932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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After noting on Monday that Senator Kelly — the only one of the six who retired from the military — was still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Hegseth sent a memorandum on Tuesday to the Secretary of the Navy asking for a full review of Kelly&#8217;s comments on the video. He said that he&#8217;d expect a brief on the Navy Secretary&#8217;s review no later than December 10.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/42TxcjdJiK">pic.twitter.com/42TxcjdJiK</a>
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar/status/1993436056008507865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Pete Hegseth – Dan Caine holds a joint press conference in DC

Pete Hegseth Unloads On Insurrection Video: ‘A Politically-Motivated Influence Operation’

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the “Seditious Six,” the Democrats who urged service members to disregard what they called illegal orders from the Trump administration, The Daily Wire has learned. The FBI is now scheduling interviews with the members of Congress involved.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) appeared in a video urging service members and intelligence officers to &#8220;refuse illegal orders.&#8221;
Both the DOJ and the FBI confirmed to The Daily Wire that they are scheduling interviews with these lawmakers. After this story was published, the six lawmakers put out a joint statement accusing the president of &#8220;using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress.&#8221;
In their Nov. 18 video, the lawmakers said: &#8220;We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe.&#8221;
<blockquote>
&#8220;We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now. Americans trust their military, but that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this constitution. Right now, threats to our constitution aren&#8217;t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.&#8221;
&#8220;Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution. We know this is hard, and that it&#8217;s a difficult time to be a public servant. But whether you are serving in the CIA, the army, or navy, the air force, your vigilance is critical. Know that we have your back, because now, more than ever, the American people need you.&#8221;
</blockquote>
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the lawmakers should be arrested and tried for &#8220;seditious behavior,&#8221; saying their actions were &#8220;punishable by death.&#8221; The president later clarified that he was &#8220;not threatening death&#8221; to the lawmakers, but rather pointing out the severity of their conduct.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has also denounced the video, calling it &#8220;despicable.&#8221; Hegseth, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/despicable-reckless-and-false-hegseth-coins-new-nickname-for-dems-pushing-military-insurrection?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=%E2%80%98Despicable%2C+Reckless%2C+And+False%E2%80%99%3A+Hegseth+Coins+New+Nickname+For+Dems+Pushing+Military+Insurrection">coined the term</a> &#8220;Seditious Six&#8221; to describe the Democratic lawmakers, argued that while the video may seem harmless to civilians, &#8220;it carries a different weight inside the military.&#8221; 
&#8220;This was a politically-motivated influence operation: It never named a specific &#8216;illegal order.&#8217; It created ambiguity rather than clarity,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It used carefully scripted, legal-sounding language. It subtly reframed military obedience around partisan distrust instead of established legal processes.&#8221;
&#8220;In the military, vague rhetoric and ambiguity undermines trust, creates hesitation in the chain of command, and erodes cohesion,&#8221; Hegseth warned. &#8220;The military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. It does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command. As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation. The [Department of War] won’t fall for it or stand for it.&#8221;
On Monday, the Department of War singled out Kelly, stating that it had &#8220;received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.).&#8221; Kelly is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice because he is a retired Naval officer.
&#8220;In accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 688, and other applicable regulations, a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,&#8221; the War Department said. &#8220;This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality.&#8221;
Meanwhile, Kelly and his fellow Democrats argue that the president and the War Department seek to intimidate them from encouraging troops to disobey &#8220;illegal&#8221; orders — though on Monday, Sen. Slotkin <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/11/23/elissa-slotkin-video-troops-disobey-donald-trump-cannot-name-one-illegal-order-martha-raddatz-abc/">admitted on ABC News</a> that she could not cite any illegal order issued by Trump.
&#8220;If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,&#8221; Kelly said in a post that described his service in the United States Navy. &#8220;I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Donald Trump can try to intimidate me, but it’s not going to work. My job is to defend the Constitution and hold any president accountable. <a href="https://t.co/FzfW8qQz5f">pic.twitter.com/FzfW8qQz5f</a>
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMarkKelly/status/1993173763299721688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
The lawmakers released a joint statement on November 20, saying in response to Trump: &#8220;This isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity.&#8221;
“In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage. We will continue to lead and will not be intimidated,&#8221; they argued, adding, as they did in the closure of their video: “Don’t Give Up the Ship!”

Mark Kelly 10/28/25

DOJ, FBI Launch Investigation Into ‘Seditious Six’ Democrats, Interviews Set To Begin

Pentagon

Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) threatened members of the U.S. military on Monday, warning that there would be &#8220;consequences&#8221; if they went along with the War Department&#8217;s plan to investigate Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over his participation in a video that appeared to encourage insurrection.
Gallego spoke with CNN host Kasie Hunt on Monday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;The Arena with Kasie Hunt,&#8221; where he defended the video in which Kelly and several others called on members of the military to refuse &#8220;unlawful orders&#8221; — while clearly insinuating that President Donald Trump either would or had already issued such orders. He then lashed out at the War Department for calling out Kelly, who, as a retired Navy commander, is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and promised retribution to any who went along with it.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
MORE THREATS: Ruben Gallego promises legal retaliation over military&#8217;s investigation into Mark Kelly:
“Donald Trump&#8217;s going to be gone in a couple of years.&#8221;
&#8220;If you&#8217;re part of the military that is going after sitting Senators&#8230;and part of the weaponization of government —… <a href="https://t.co/QJwq2v6GLe">pic.twitter.com/QJwq2v6GLe</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1993083556067946837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hunt asked what was Gallego&#8217;s &#8220;level of trust in the U.S. military justice system, if it were to get that far, to handle this?&#8221;
The Arizona Senator said that he did trust the system, but that if it were to go too far, members of the military who aided in any such action against Kelly would do well to remember that someday Trump would no longer be in office and could not &#8220;protect&#8221; them.
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&#8220;Donald Trump is going to be gone in a couple years. And if you’re part of the military that is going after sitting senators, sitting members of Congress, and part of the weaponization of government, there will be consequences, without a doubt,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;I think there’s going to be a lot of officers that are part of this potential tribunal, if they want to call it that, that will be looking over their shoulders,&#8221; he claimed. &#8220;Because they know that Donald Trump will be gone, and they will not have that protection. They’re going to have to do the safest thing possible, which is follow the Constitution of the United States, and you’ll be fine.&#8221;

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

Dem Senator Doubles Down On Insurrection Video, Threatens Military Over Plan To Go After Kelly

The Department of War <a href="https://x.com/DeptofWar/status/1992999267967905905">initiated</a> a review of &#8220;serious allegations&#8221; against Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly on Monday after he joined five other Democrats in urging U.S. military members to disobey &#8220;illegal orders.&#8221;
The War Department said the review will determine whether Kelly, a U.S. Navy combat veteran and retired astronaut, should be recalled to active duty for &#8220;court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.&#8221; Kelly, along with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) — all former military members — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-urge-military-to-disobey-orders-from-trump-admin-trigger-accusations-of-insurrection">released a video</a> last week where they encouraged military members to ignore what they perceived as unlawful orders.
&#8220;The Department of War reminds all individuals that military retirees remain subject to the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] for applicable offenses, and federal laws such as 18 U.S.C. § 2387 prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces. Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels,&#8221; the War Department said.
The <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section2387&amp;num=0&amp;edition=prelim">U.S. code</a> cited by the department makes it a crime &#8220;to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States&#8221; and &#8220;to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States.&#8221; Those who violate 18 U.S.C. 2387 face up to 10 years in prison.
In the video, the six Democrats argued that the Trump administration &#8220;is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.&#8221;
&#8220;Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution,&#8221; the Democratic leaders told U.S. service members. &#8220;Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren&#8217;t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.&#8221;
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&#8220;Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders,&#8221; the Democrats added. &#8220;You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. <a href="https://t.co/N8lW0EpQ7r">pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r</a>
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/1990774492356902948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
President Donald Trump responded to the video last week, suggesting that it constituted &#8220;SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.&#8221; He later clarified that he was not calling for the senators to receive the death penalty, but he has continued to share claims that the Democrats are guilty of sedition.
Kelly <a href="https://x.com/SenMarkKelly/status/1992710684984082803">said</a> on Sunday that Trump is &#8220;calling for the execution of members of Congress.&#8221;
&#8220;His words carry tremendous weight, more so than anybody else in the country, and he should be aware of that,&#8221; the senator added. &#8220;And because of what he says, there [are] now increased threats against us.&#8221;
In their video, the Democratic lawmakers did not give a single example of an illegal order the president has issued to the U.S. military. Senator Slotkin was asked on Sunday whether Trump has given any illegal orders, and she could not name any.
&#8220;I am not aware of things that are illegal, but certainly there are some legal gymnastics that are going on with these Caribbean strikes and everything related to Venezuela,&#8221; Slotkin said.

War Department Reviewing ‘Serious Allegations’ Against Sen. Mark Kelly After Dem Military Message

Trump Administration

U.S.

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) was quick to give President Donald Trump credit for securing the deal that could finally end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas terrorists.
Kelly sat down with CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; — when phase one of the deal was already beginning to unfold — and he said that Trump deserved &#8220;a lot of credit&#8221; for setting things in motion to bring about a deal.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sen. Mark Kelly on ceasefire deal in Gaza: I think Trump &#8220;should get a lot of credit.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/iFopebsXTI">pic.twitter.com/iFopebsXTI</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1977373195628941468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;How much credit does President Trump deserve for this deal?&#8221; Bash asked Kelly to open the conversation.
&#8220;I think he should get a lot of credit. I mean, this was his deal,&#8221; Kelly replied. &#8220;He worked this out. He sent [Middle East Envoy] Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner over to negotiate this. And so far, it’s gone well.&#8221;
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&#8220;Hopefully, the hostages get released here — might not be within 24 hours — but certainly, I think, by Monday. And that’s progress. And now we’re going to have to see what happens next,&#8221; Kelly continued, referencing the moves already being made in Gaza to see the last of the hostages released.
He went on to say that he hoped to see the rest of the deal come to pass as promised, with other nations in the surrounding area stepping up to help Gaza rebuild.
&#8220;You know, my hope is the Saudis, the Emiratis, they step up and they do what they said they would do, which is invest in rebuilding Gaza, which 90 percent of the homes have been destroyed. It is such a tragic situation,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It’s good to see these 600 aid trucks. That should have been happening over the last two years. You know, feed people who just are starving and struggling.&#8221;
Just hours after Kelly&#8217;s interview, President Donald Trump took off in Air Force One, heading to Israel to greet the living hostages who are expected to be released in the coming hours.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Air Force One is officially WHEELS UP to Israel — where President Trump is expected to land at about 2:20 AM Eastern Time 🛫🇺🇸🇮🇱 <a href="https://t.co/k2fO6hEQaT">pic.twitter.com/k2fO6hEQaT</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1977477653998317618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

‘He Worked This Out’: Senate Dem Admits Trump Deserves ‘A Lot Of Credit’ For Gaza Deal

'He Worked This Out': Senate Dem Admits Trump Deserves 'A Lot Of Credit' For Gaza Deal

Gaza

Hamas

Israel

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-kelly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Kelly</a> (D-AZ), whose state has been at the forefront of former President Joe Biden&#8217;s illegal immigration crisis, signaled over the weekend that he does not support President Donald Trump deporting illegal aliens back to their home countries.
Kelly made the remarks during an NBC News interview on Sunday on &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; when asked about ICE agents carrying out routine immigration raids.
&#8220;Do you support what you are seeing so far, the deportation plan, as it&#8217;s been carried out by the president?&#8221; asked host Kristen Welker.
&#8220;Yeah, I don&#8217;t,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;For a number of reasons. It seems to be more about intimidation of a big population of people. It&#8217;s going down the road of mass deportation, which he said he would do, which would rip communities apart. These are really bad ideas.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s all about scaring and intimidating people,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the same thing for Guantanamo Bay. Building a facility there is because it just sounds very frightening to a lot of folks. When you&#8217;re a criminal, we need to find where you are and we need to take you into custody, and if you&#8217;re not documented, you should be returned. That makes sense. I&#8217;m all about public safety and border security. But we&#8217;ve got to do it in a way in accordance with our values.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sen. Mark Kelly says Trump’s mass deportation plans will ‘rip communities apart’: Full interview" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LwPbHhB5LLE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Democratic Senate Candidate Mark Kelly Holds Election Night Event In Tucson

Democrat Senator Mark Kelly: Deporting Illegal Aliens A ‘Really Bad Idea’

Arizona

Deportations

Illegal Immigration

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said that communist China needs to be punished for its massive cyberattack on U.S. telecommunications companies.
Kelly made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan when asked what the consequences need to be with China.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to be strong in standing up to them and explaining to them, and in some cases, I think consequences need to be serious,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There are things that we can do, we have the tools. But I would say, even beyond that, we&#8217;ve got to figure out a way to get them off of the infrastructure.&#8221;
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&#8220;With regards to the telecom system, multiple companies, you know, Chinese cyber software are currently on those systems, and we&#8217;re working to try to fix this,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Some of this is going to require that the- the telecom companies upgrade their infrastructure. That could be costly. We&#8217;re currently working with them to do that.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
There could be &#8220;a disruption in the service&#8221; of TikTok in the U.S. when the ban put into law goes into effect on January 19, unless the Supreme Court intervenes, says Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
He says he knows the ban is &#8220;controversial,&#8221; but TikTok &#8220;has a national security risk to… <a href="https://t.co/y3LWgIE8gI">pic.twitter.com/y3LWgIE8gI</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1878491501078212889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
On the issue of TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media app, Kelly said that app will likely go dark starting next weekend.
&#8220;Based on the oral argument in the case two days ago, it looks like the Supreme Court- I mean, I don&#8217;t really want to speculate, but it does look like they&#8217;re going to uphold the law that we passed,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;So, I think on the 19th, so one day before- before the inauguration, you know, TikTok on our systems, on our servers, becomes something that&#8217;s now been banned by Congress.&#8221;
&#8220;So I imagine there&#8217;s going to be a disruption in the service here, you know, starting on the 19th,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I know this is controversial. I know there are folks out there that earn a living, you know, on Tiktok, but it has a national security risk to it. You know, one is the data, one of the risks. The thing that I&#8217;m more concerned about is their ability to manipulate the- the population of the United States, especially in time of a conflict. So it was the right decision. I voted for it. And it looks like the Supreme Court is going to uphold the legislation that we passed.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
There could be &#8220;a disruption in the service&#8221; of TikTok in the U.S. when the ban put into law goes into effect on January 19, unless the Supreme Court intervenes, says Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
He says he knows the ban is &#8220;controversial,&#8221; but TikTok &#8220;has a national security risk to… <a href="https://t.co/y3LWgIE8gI">pic.twitter.com/y3LWgIE8gI</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1878491501078212889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2025</a></blockquote>

Senator Kelly: ‘Serious Consequences’ Needed For China’s Hack

Communist China

TikTok

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