Sen. Mark Kelly: ‘I Never Thought I’d See a President Call for My Execution’
Ashleigh Fields The Hill
In this Oct. 25, 2022 file photo, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks during a Get Out the Vote Rally at San Xavier District Community Center on the Tohono Oodham Reservation in Tucson, Ariz. (photo: Rebecca Noble/Getty)
“I’ve had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire, and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I’d see a President call for my execution,” Kelly wrote in a statement on social media.
The president made the comments after Kelly alongside Sens. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Chris Deluzio (Pa.) and Maggie Goodlander (N.H.) urged members of the armed forces not to follow any “illegal orders” during the course of their duties.
“Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we’re all less safe for it,” Kelly added in his post.
Kelly’s criticisms of Trump were echoed by a number of other Democrats, as well as Kelly’s wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot and nearly killed in a shooting at a constituent event in 2011. Six people were killed and 13 others were wounded in that shooting.
“My husband @CaptMarkKelly is a 25-year Navy combat pilot veteran. He served our country with strength, courage, and integrity, dedicating his career to protecting us and upholding our constitution,” Giffords wrote in a statement on the social platform X.
“Today, the President of the United States called him a traitor and demanded he be executed. It is dangerous and wrong. Americans of all political beliefs need to stand up and say so,” she added.
Trump said Kelly and others’ words in the video posted were “really bad, and Dangerous to our Country.
“Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social.
A short time later, he posted an addendum: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
His statements follow several fatal political shootings earlier this year, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the killing of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman (D), who was gunned down in her home alongside her husband.
Trump himself was nearly killed in an attempted assasssination in the summer of 2024 in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania governor’s mansion was also subject to an attack after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the home, forcing Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and his wife to vacate the property.
