Sen. Mark Kelly: ‘I'm not backing down from the president and secretary of defense’

Sen. Mark Kelly reacts to Hegseth's censure

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joins LiveNOW's Josh Breslow after Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Jan. 5 that he has moved to formally censure Kelly.

In an interview Wednesday with LiveNow Senior Digital Journalist Josh Breslow, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona says he is not backing down from President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a formal censure letter was sent to Secretary of the Navy John Phelan to review the retired Navy captain's retirement rank and pay.

The backstory:

The censure comes after Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers in November took part in a video calling for U.S. military members to resist unlawful orders.

The 90-second video was first posted from Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s X account. In it, the six lawmakers — Slotkin, Kelly and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan — speak directly to U.S. service members, whom Slotkin acknowledges are "under enormous stress and pressure right now."

The lawmakers didn’t mention specific circumstances. But their message was released amid a series of military attacks on boats accused of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean and Trump’s attempts to deploy National Guard troops to American cities.

What they're saying:

On Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the censure and released the following statement to Fox News Digital.
 

What is your reaction to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's comments earlier and what you've seen from President Trump in the past couple months?   

"Well, a couple of months ago when we put out that video, Trump's initial reaction was that I should be hanged, executed, prosecuted. And then Pete Hegseth went with them. At that point, Pete Hegseth said he was going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He sent me a letter a couple of days ago, a censure letter, because they didn't like what I said, and they want to silence me, and they want to silence other members of the military.

The president wants to shut people up. I am not going to shut up. I'm not going back down. This letter of censure is a joke. By the way, Josh, this is interesting. In this letter, it was not just about the video. They criticized me and say they say I'm being censured because I criticize them for firing admirals and generals. They're also critical of me because I said I would always support the Constitution," said Kelly.

What was the message you were hoping to convey with that video? Do you feel that it got across? 

"It got a lot of attention, right? We were surprised with the amount of attention it actually received. It was the second video we did, the first one Donald Trump ignored. Second one, he didn't like what we said. But we're trying to send a pretty basic message. And this is something that members of the military are taught. Usually initially when they enter the military, for me, it was when I was a midshipman at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. That we're taught that you do not follow illegal orders, that if the law and the orders are in conflict, you gotta stick with the law. It's a pretty simple and basic message. I would have expected that this president, if he said anything, he would have said something like, well, of course, of course. And everybody knows that. So it was just a friendly reminder. And we did it because Donald Trump in 2016, go through a couple of things here. In 2016, he said we should be, the military should be killing the family members of terrorists, that means women and children, and shooting protesters in the legs, U.S. Citizens. So we're really concerned about what might come next. So we're trying to just send this," said Kelly.

The motivation behind this, what do you make of it? Is it simply political? 

"Yeah, it's to stifle and silence people. They're trying to silence me. They also put in this censure letter at the end that they're gonna continue to monitor what I say. And if they don't like it, they're going to criminally prosecute me. I have First Amendment rights. I'm also a US Senator. If they can silence a US senator, what does it mean for other people that want to speak out and give their opinion about this. About this government. That is a right that every U.S. citizen has, the freedom of speech and the right to speak," said Kelly. 

What does your service to this country mean to you? 

"Well, it defines me. I mean, I spent 25 years in the United States Navy. I flew 39 combat missions. I had a missile blow up next to my airplane. I was shot down or nearly shot down multiple times. I threw in space four times on the space shuttle in service of our country. I made my service to this nation is, you know, incredibly important And I am so grateful I had the opportunity to do it. And I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to continue to serve in my role as a U.S. Senator. I mean, service to this country is in my family's DNA. I'm a fourth generation, you know, service member. Back to my great-grandfather, who served in the Navy. My grandfather served in the Navy. My dad was in the 82nd Airborne. My brother, you now, served in the United States Navy and was also a NASA astronaut. So this is just what we do. My wife served in Congress, nearly lost her life, nearly assassinated 15 years ago tomorrow because of her service to this nation. So this is just what we do. Donald Trump, I don't think he understands service," said Kelly. 

What is your message that you want to get across to people about his entire situation?

 "Well, it's that I am not going to be intimidated. I'm not going to back down from this president or the secretary of defense. It is not only my right, it is my responsibility to do my job. I represent the people of Arizona in the United States Senate. I'm going to continue to, as a member of the armed services and the intelligence committee, I'm going to show up here every day and do my jobs. And if that means, I'm going to point out things that this administration is doing that are wrong, that are not in the best interest of this country. And the same thing goes for the Secretary of Defense and the Department of Defense. I will do that. I'm not going to be intimidated," said Kelly.

LiveNOW from FOX has reached out to the Pentagon for an interview and have not received a response. 

The backstory:

Senator Kelly served as a Navy pilot, flying 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. He retired as a Captain in 2001 after 25 years of service.

In 1996, Kelly was selected as an astronaut in the same NASA class as his identical twin brother Scott. Kelly served as the pilot of STS-108 in December 2001, and spent more than 50 days in space,  traveling over 20 million miles. He retired from NASA in 2011 after commanding Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.

On Dec. 2, 2020, Kelly was sworn in as U.S. Senator for Arizona, in the seat once held by Senator John McCain.