Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
senator mark kelly He said he has faced death threats and has since hired a private security guard President Donald Trump They lashed out at him for requesting him by posting a video. US military members Disobeying “illegal orders”.
Arizona Democrat and former Navy pilot Kelly revealed this increased security status in an interview with Vanity Fair Published on Wednesday. But, despite the dangerous circumstances, he said he remained steadfast.
“Trump is not going to intimidate me,” he said. “He’s an autocrat, and we have to make sure he doesn’t get there.”
On this point, Kelly said people should not dismiss the president’s inflammatory rhetoric as harmless babble.
,[Trump] Talks about sending the military to train American civilians, and people think, Oh, well, he’s not going to do that. It’s just Trump being Trump. That’s how we got here,” he told the outlet. “We know who Donald Trump is, right? We knew who he was even when he was contesting elections for the first time. This is the person who talked about killing women and children. He said we should have an army kill family members of terroristsYou know, you can’t put that shit back in the donkey,” he added,
The senator, who was first elected to the Senate in 2020, said he has dealt with “harder things” than his recent dispute with Trump. Top among them was the attempted assassination of his wife, former Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords. During a meeting with constituents in 2011, he was shot at close range in the face.
“I sat by my wife’s hospital bedside for months, not thinking what the outcome would be,” Kelly said. Vanity Fair“Most people don’t survive that kind of wound,” Above his recoveryGiffords left office and became an advocate for gun violence prevention.
The former NASA astronaut — who was on former Vice President Kamala Harris’s shortlist to serve as her running mate in 2024 — also said his upbringing in northern New Jersey enabled him to deal with tough situations.
“I grew up in the same town where the fictional Tony Soprano grew up,” said Kelly, who now lives in Arizona. Vanity Fair“When you grow up around mobsters, it makes you resilient to this shit,”
Kelly’s comments come weeks after he was embroiled in a political storm in November over a video he and five other Democrats posted on social media. It was directed at members of the military.
In the video, six lawmakers – all seasoned or former intelligence community professionals – said, “The Threat to our Constitution They are not just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can reject illegal orders.”
Trump immediately responded to Truth Social, calling the Democrats’ behavior “treasonous” and “death sentence!,
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt defended the president’s comments, telling reporters on November 20, “The sanctity of our military rests on chain of command“And if the chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed.”
He said the Democrats’ video “sent a very dangerous message…and it’s probably punishable by law.”
A few days later, the Pentagon said it was opening an investigation against Kelly, noting that, unlike the five other Democrats, he is subject to the same code of military justice.
“The War Department has received serious allegations of misconduct Capt. Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), against Capt. Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), the Pentagon said in a statement. A thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further action, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.
FBI Counterterrorism Division He also reached out to schedule interviews with six Democrats, dubbed the “Seditious Six” by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Kelly, and other Democrats – including Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin and Colorado Representative Jason Crow – have said they did nothing wrong.
“I said something that was legitimate, that was very simpleKelly told MSNow this weekend. “It was a message that I felt as members of the military, at this time – when you consider who this president is and who the secretary of defense is – they need to hear this very basic message.”
“Frankly, the president’s reaction and the use of the FBI against us is why we made the video,” Slotkin said in November. “He believes in using the federal government against his perceived opponents, and he is not afraid to use the weapons of government against people with whom he disagrees. He does not believe the law applies to them.”
On December 9, Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee also sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy calling for the Pentagon’s investigation to be “outright, shameless abuse Of electricity.”