Appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling him incompetent and saying he only wants to please President Donald Trump.
The comments came after Hegseth asked the Navy secretary to review Kelly’s comments in a video to troops for “potentially illegal conduct,” according to a memo posted on social media by the Pentagon.
Kelly told Kimmel that the reaction of the president and his administration sows fear and called it an example of “how democracies die.”
“It’s right out of the playbook, you know, the playbook of authoritarianism. That’s what they do. They try to suppress speech,” Kelly said. “Each of us has First Amendment speech rights, and I think the president is infringing on them and he’s sending, he’s sending a pretty strong message. You don’t want to cross him, and your loyalty should be to him. It shouldn’t. It should always be to the Constitution.”
Kelly also addressed the Defense Department’s review of his comments in the video, saying Hegseth is “totally unqualified” for the job and “just wants to please the president.”
“He can prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the law in the military, which is a little crazy, because we recite something in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he will prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Kelly said. “It’s so ridiculous it’s almost like you can’t make this shit up.”
Kelly also told Kimmel how she discovered Trump first reacted to the video with the post, calling it “THIRSTY BEHAVIOR, punishable by death.” Kelly detailed that she was with Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., when a staffer interrupted her briefing and slipped her a piece of paper.
“Then someone comes in the middle of our report, slides his piece of paper and I look at him and says ‘the president is calling for your execution’… to her, to Elissa, then she looks at me, gets up and leaves,” Kelly said. “About five minutes later, she comes back, looks at me and says, ‘Well, he’s calling for your execution, too.’ So I’m not off the hook.”
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) holds a town hall meeting to discuss the impact of Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and food assistance benefits at the Chiricahua Community Health Center in Sierra Vista, Arizona, U.S., May 29, 2025.
Rebeca Noble/Reuters
Kelly also pointed to Trump’s attacks on Kimmel, as well as his administration’s alleged attacks on law firms, universities and media companies, saying he is “suing people repeatedly to suppress their opinion, to make sure everyone knows their loyalty should be to Him.”
All military officers who have retired after 20 years of service can be recalled to active duty and, if found to have engaged in misconduct, are subject to military proceedings, potentially a court-martial.
Kelly served for 25 years in the Navy and NASA, retiring in 2011.
The code referenced by the Department of Defense could subject Kelly to “administrative action,” which could include a reduction in rank and a reduction in his pension entitlement.
“Our democracy doesn’t work like that and we can’t go down that slippery slope,” Kelly said.
