President Donald Trump’s demand for retaliation in opposition to political opponents has ignited a weird, public feud, with Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth launching an obsessive and broadly derided marketing campaign in opposition to embellished navy hero Sen. Mark Kelly.
The goal of their rage is an easy 90-second video message to U.S. service members. Hegseth is threatening to reactivate the Arizona Democrat and convey a court-martial in opposition to him after an enraged Trump went ballistic calling the Democrats within the video “traitors” who must be executed for “seditious conduct.”
The video, which Kelly and 5 different lawmakers launched, reminded troops that their loyalty lies with the U.S. Structure first and that they will and may reject any “illegal orders.”
As an alternative of following clear navy process, Hegseth spent the subsequent day fixated on the previous Navy captain. The Secretary introduced a “thorough assessment” of Kelly, citing “severe allegations of misconduct,” after which instantly went on the assault personally.
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“So ‘Captain’ Kelly, not solely did your sedition video deliberately undercut good order & self-discipline…however you may’t even show your uniform appropriately,” Hegseth sneered in a put up on X, claiming Kelly’s uniform was mistaken. “Your medals are out of order & rows reversed. When/in case you are recalled to lively responsibility, it’ll begin with a uniform inspection.”
Hegseth additionally claimed the video was a “politically-motivated affect operation,” in line with ABC Information.
“The navy already has clear procedures for dealing with illegal orders. It doesn’t want political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command,” he ranted on Tuesday by no means mentioning the previous astronaut’s quite a few navy and NASA honors, together with two Protection Superior Service Medals, a Legion of Advantage and two Distinguished Flying Crosses
Social media responded to Hegseth’s feedback with exasperation and derision.
“Good lord, Pete… I believed you promised to stop consuming? The picture is clearly reversed….,” X consumer Catherine From MA posted.
This Threads consumer agreed, “He’s so jealous he can’t see straight. Or is that the liquor…”
And a reality verify by X chatbot Grok responded that in actual fact Kelly was carrying his medals correctly.
When requested, “Are the rows reversed?” Grok responded, “No. The highest row clearly comprises the higher-precedence U.S. navy decorations, which is the proper orientation … Nothing within the picture signifies that the rows are upside-down or reversed.”
And when requested if the medals within the photograph have been out of order, Grok stated, “No apparent order-of-precedence errors seem. The association seems uncommon…”
Kelly shortly turned the tables on Hegseth, utilizing an look on Jimmy Kimmel Stay to blast the Protection Secretary’s political motivations.
“It’s proper out of the playbook, you realize, the playbook of authoritarianism. That’s what they do. They attempt to suppress speech,” Kelly stated, reminding viewers that loyalty must be to the Structure, not the President. Kelly additionally known as Hegseth “completely unqualified” for the job and claimed “he simply desires to please the president.”
Addressing the ludicrous menace of a court-martial, the Arizona senator said, “He can go after me underneath the Uniform Code of Navy Justice, which is legislation within the navy, which is form of wild, as a result of we recited one thing within the Uniform Code of Navy Justice, and he’s going to prosecute me underneath the Uniform Code of Navy Justice. It’s so ridiculous, it’s virtually like you may’t make this s— up.”
Kelly had beforehand rejected Hegseth’s accusations and doable “assessment” in a press release on X, writing about his lengthy navy profession and rejecting the thought of intimidation.
“Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the primary I heard of this. I additionally noticed the President’s posts saying I must be arrested, hanged, and put to dying,” Kelly wrote. “If that is meant to intimidate me and different members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it gained’t work,” he added.
Whereas the Pentagon will not be investigating the opposite 5 Democrats within the video, the FBI apparently is. Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and 4 Home Democrats stated the FBI had despatched messages to them requesting interviews.
