‘Outrageous’: Top Dem marks wins in court but Trump still wants to hang him
WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) would rather not be in the national spotlight because the President of the United States called for him to be hanged, but that doesn't mean he's not prepared to fight to the bitter end.
And this week, the only bitterness was emanating from the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Trump White House suffered major setbacks in its attempt to make an example out of Kelly and other veterans in Congress who cut a video calling on active-duty service members to refuse any unconstitutional orders from Trump or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
That video prompted Trump to say the Democrats were guilty of “seditious behavior,” an offense he claimed was “punishable by DEATH!” He also shared calls from supporters for the Democrats to be hanged.
Hegseth threatened to court martial Kelly, then attempted to reduce his rank and pension.
In an exclusive interview with Raw Story, Arizona's senior senator opened up about the barrage of attacks he and other veterans of the military or intelligence services have endured as a result of such Trump administration assaults.
"This government doesn't want us speaking out against them," Kelly said, while riding the tram underneath the U.S. Senate.
"Such a fundamental American right that we all have is to criticize the government. They don't like criticism."
‘Rights are on the line’
There was a lot of criticism this week over Trump’s attempt to censure the Democratic veterans who spoke out.
On Tuesday, a D.C. grand jury threw out charges the administration sought to bring against Kelly and the five other Democrats who spoke out.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with Kelly, blocking a planned Department of Defense punishment and scolding both the White House and Pentagon — “Horsefeathers!” he exclaimed — for "trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers."
Kelly is a decorated U.S. Navy pilot and astronaut — which is partly why the personal attacks from the Commander-in-Chief have been so unsettling.
"What have you thought of..." Raw Story asked, before the senator finished the question.
"The president wanting to hang me?" Kelly said. "I take a little bit of offense to it, you know, and saying I should be executed. It's outrageous. I mean, he's the president."
On Thursday, Judge Leon ordered Kelly and the Pentagon to come back in 30 days with an update on the issue between them, even as his ruling barred Hegseth from punishing Kelly by reducing rank or retirement pay or by taking any other step.
"There's a process," Kelly said. "I filed a lawsuit against Pete Hegseth to, you know, stop that process.
"The real thing that matters is there are over two million retired veterans — veterans whose First Amendment rights are on the line with this case.
"Because if they can say that me — as somebody who left the military 15 years ago and is a retired service member — that I do not have freedom of speech rights, and I'm a U.S. senator, if they can take away my rank after 25 years and take away some of my retirement pension, they can do that to anybody.
“Much easier to do that to somebody else."
‘I didn’t ask for this’
The high-stakes fight with Trump and Hegseth has raised Kelly's profile, with appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in recent months.
Even with 2026 being a midterm elections year, there's lots of chatter about a Kelly presidential run in 2028. For now at least, he brushes that aside.
"I didn't ask for this," Kelly said. "I was just trying to send a really very simple, basic message that I felt needed to be said, and, you know, this is all Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's doing."
While calling for an execution is about as personal as politics can get, at the end of the day, Kelly laughs Trump off.
"Every day he just says outrageous stuff," Kelly said.
Kelly is confident the courts will continue to rule his way, because of the strength of First Amendment protections.
"The law and the Constitution are on our side here," Kelly told Raw Story. "So, yeah, I mean, anything can happen, but I feel pretty good about it."
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