Sen. Mark Kelly clarified that a video showing himself and other Democratic lawmakers telling troops they can defy Donald Trump was “looking forward” to future illegal orders and not targeted at anything specific the president has demanded so far.
The Arizona senator joined “Meet the Press” for a Sunday appearance in which host Kristen Welker asked Kelly which orders by the president he believes were unlawful. Trump has suggested that the video was seditious and possibly grounds for execution, and called for an investigation.
“Well, so this is looking forward,” he said. “But let me give you a pass, an outline, of things that he has said.”
“In 2016, he said that the U.S. military will follow his illegal orders. He said something on the debate stage and was reminded that would be illegal. And he said the military will not refuse his orders, regardless of whether they’re legal or not. He also talked about shooting protesters in the legs. How un-American, how unconstitutional is that?”
Welker also cited reporting from The Washington Post that claimed U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave orders for American troops to kill 11 people who were suspected of drug smuggling and asked, “Are you calling for U.S. service members to actively disobey orders like those?”
“Well, if orders are illegal, not only do they not have to follow them; they are legally required not to follow them,” Kelly answered before adding he hopes the reporting “is not accurate.”
“I care, so much, about the United States Navy and those service members. And this was an operation involving the most professional members of the military, U.S. Navy SEALs, who I revere,” he insisted. “I hope and pray that this is not true. But there needs to be an investigation by the inspector general. Pete Hegseth fired many of the inspectors general in DOD, but [whoever’s left] needs to investigate it. We’re going to investigate it.”
During a visit on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday, Kelly insisted he will not back down from Trump or his administration, despite the president’s calls for him to be investigated and possibly punished.
“I’ll tell you this though, I’m not backing down,” Kelly said. “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. His response, ‘Kill them.’”
Kimmel also asked if Kelly is worried about a potential investigation, to which the former astronaut responded, “I’ve been through a lot more challenging things than this,” Kelly replied. “What I’m worried about is the reaction, and what this transmits to the military and the public, which is basically ‘shut up and listen to that guy.’ And that’s not the way our system works.”
Watch the interview with Sen. Mark Kelly in the video above.
