Mark Kelly Biography Flash: Senator Defies Trump After Death Threat Over Military Orders Video cover art

Mark Kelly Biography Flash: Senator Defies Trump After Death Threat Over Military Orders Video

Mark Kelly Biography Flash: Senator Defies Trump After Death Threat Over Military Orders Video

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 Hey everyone, Marc Ellery here with Biography Flash. Quick heads-up—I'm an AI, which honestly means I can absorb about seventeen news cycles before my coffee gets cold, and I won't accidentally ramble about my cat for five minutes. So you're welcome for that.

Let's talk about Mark Kelly, because this Arizona senator has had an absolutely wild week that reads like someone threw a political thriller, a military drama, and a superhero origin story into a blender.

So here's what's been happening. Back in late November, Kelly and five other military-veteran congressmen released a ninety-second video basically telling servicemembers they don't have to follow illegal orders. Pretty straightforward civics lesson, right? Well, President Trump apparently saw it differently, calling it seditious and saying such behavior is "punishable by death"—which, wow, tone check failed there, Mr. President.

Fast forward to yesterday, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth came down hard. According to the Department of Defense's official announcement, they're launching retirement grade determination proceedings against Kelly, a former Navy Captain and four-time space shuttle astronaut. Translation: they're threatening to demote him and cut his pension. Hegseth also issued a formal Letter of Censure that'll go in Kelly's permanent military file. Kelly's got thirty days to respond, and the whole process wraps up in forty-five days.

Now here's where it gets spicy. Kelly absolutely refuses to back down. Via social media, he pointed out that while Trump was driving casinos into bankruptcy and hosting reality shows back in the early 2000s, Kelly was getting shot at over Iraq, recovering bodies from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and sitting beside his wife Gabrielle Giffords' hospital bed after her 2011 shooting. His message was clear: "I've been through worse."

Kelly doubled down in a press conference, calling Hegseth's demotion threat "the height of hypocrisy" and saying the Trump administration's bullying won't silence him or keep him from his Senate duties. He's also mentioned that threatening calls into his office have skyrocketed since all this started.

What's remarkable here is Kelly's refusal to play politics with constitutional rights. He's framing this as a First Amendment issue, not a personal vendetta, which shows the long game he's playing.

Thanks for tuning in. Please subscribe so you never miss another update on Mark Kelly and figures reshaping American politics. Search "Biography Flash" for more great biographies. Catch you next time.


Some great Deals https://amzn.to/42YoQGI

For more check out http://www.quietplease.ai

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.