Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said he is “not backing down” from his message telling U.S. service members to refuse what he called President Donald Trump’s “illegal orders,” even as he acknowledged [1] during a television interview that he could not name any specific illegal order that the president has given.
Kelly, a retired Naval captain, addressed the issue during an appearance with host Jimmy Kimmel.
“You can’t keep track of this guy and what he says. I’ll tell you this though, I’m not backing down. We said something very simple. Members of the military need to follow the law. We wanted to say that we have their backs. His response, kill them,” Kelly told Kimmel.
Kelly appeared in a video alongside five other lawmakers promoting the message that service members should refuse orders they believe to be unlawful.
The video included statements from Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Reps. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Jason Crow of Colorado.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r [2]
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025 [3]
After the video began circulating on social media, the Trump administration and the Department of War said Kelly was under review for a possible court martial related to “serious allegations of misconduct.”
Kelly responded to that development during his interview with Kimmel.
“This is what he can do this week, go after me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is a law in the military, which is kind of wild because we recited something in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he is going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for reciting the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is so ridiculous, it is like you can’t make this shit up,” Kelly said.
Kelly also claimed that actions taken by the administration were inconsistent with constitutional principles.
“What I am worried about is the reaction and what this transmits to the military and the public, which is basically, shut up and listen to that guy. That is not the way our system works. My oath and every member of the military took is loyalty to the Constitution, not to a person. He is trying to get some fear out there, and fear can be contagious, but what also can be contagious is courage and patriotism,” he said.
He further accused the president of undermining democratic norms.
“It is how democracy dies. It is right out of the playbook. The playbook of authoritarianism, that’s what they do. They try to suppress speech. Every one of us has First Amendment speech rights. I think the president is infringing on those, and he is sending a strong message, you don’t want to cross him and your loyalty should be to him. It should not. It always should be to the Constitution,” Kelly said.
In a separate appearance on Rachel Maddow’s program, Kelly stated that he could not identify any specific “illegal order” he believes the president has issued to the military.
Democrat Senator Mark Kelly accidentally admits on air to Rachel Maddow that there were no specific illegal orders from President Trump behind the viral video stunt warning the military to defy the White House.
MADDOW: “When you and your colleagues made that video, were there… pic.twitter.com/nzZrcPwQRc [4]
— Overton (@overton_news) November 25, 2025 [5]