Stephen A. Smith issued sharp criticism of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., after Kelly appeared in a video urging military personnel to disregard what he described as “illegal orders” from President Donald Trump.
Smith said it was inappropriate for an elected senator to publicly instruct service members to ignore directives from the Commander in Chief, arguing that such remarks cross a constitutional boundary.
Smith questioned why Kelly would appear on camera delivering that message.
“Respectfully, Senator, what the hell are you doing, looking into the camera and and telling military men and women to ignore the Commander in Chief? How dare you? How dare you do that?” Smith said.
He added that although he never served in uniform, he has multiple family members and close friends who did.
“I have family members who did some of my best friends have Marines, Air Force, Navy, Army. I haven’t heard one of them, not one of them, say that was okay. How dare you do that?”
Smith rejected the notion that Kelly’s conduct amounted to treason but insisted it was still a serious breach.
“Is it treason? No. Is it punishable by death? It shouldn’t be. So the answer is no, but you know better. Senator Kelly, you know better. How dare you do that?” he said.
He argued that if Kelly believed Trump had issued illegal commands, proper avenues existed in Congress.
“What are you supposed to do? You’re a ranking senator. You could go to the Senate, you could go to the house. You can put up drawer paperwork. You can try to start Articles of Impeachment if you think there’s something illegal,” Smith said.
“I mean, damn it, ain’t like y’all haven’t done it before you impeach the man twice. Where that get you? Got us behind back in the White House. Had you left him alone in 20 since 2020, maybe he wouldn’t be back terrorizing the Democratic Party the way that he is. But you did it. You did it, and here you are again with this nonsense.”
Smith said Kelly crossed a line by publicly encouraging disobedience within the ranks.
“You don’t tell military men and women to ignore an order from the Commander in Chief. You don’t do that,” he said.
“He’s the commander in chief for the United States military period. You have no business doing that.”
He pressed Kelly to explain what “illegal orders” he was referring to.
“And by the way, the biggest reason is because what was illegal, you didn’t tell us what it was, what laws,” Smith said, pointing out that Kelly offered no examples or evidence.
Smith referenced courtroom portrayals of military conduct, arguing that even implying illegal behavior without proof is problematic.
“Because the mere thought of you even implying that a military officer is engaging and sometimes a salacious or illegal activity is trouble in the military, not the court of laws for civilians, the military.”
Smith repeatedly questioned why Kelly had not produced evidence.
“Senator Mark Kelly knows that Trump is giving illegal orders. What are the illegal orders? How come you didn’t tell us? Where’s the evidence?” he said.
“Why do you think the investigation is going on? Why do you think Trump is all over Pete Haig Seth over the Department of War and the FBI with cash Battelle and folks are looking into and probing what’s going on, and how can they get to Mark Kelly, because they know he did something wrong. You crossed the damn line.”
Smith said senators have designated processes if they believe misconduct occurred.
“We have a constitution. You got a problem. You go through the necessary process, whether it’s a Hakeem Jeffries in the house, whether it’s human in the Senate or anybody else, that is the point you’re supposed that’s the process you’re supposed to go to,” he said.
He reiterated that issuing a public call for military personnel to disregard the Commander in Chief cannot be justified.
“You don’t go in front of the cameras and give military officer or military personnel a directive to ignore their commander in chief, and you’ve given no evidence what his illegal orders were,” Smith said.
“And if you try to sit up there and say, Oh, it was just alluded to a future, reference to future situations, oh, so he’s going to give you an illegal order in the future… that flies over the airwaves of Sirius XM, or one of these news networks or something like that. It does not apply in our military. You can’t do that.”
WATCH:
NEW: Stephen A. Smith *GOES NUCLEAR* on Mark Kelly for telling military to disobey TRUMP
“How dare you do that!? I’m not a military person and I know better than that! You don’t tell military men and women to ignore an order from the commander-in-chief! You don’t do that!”… pic.twitter.com/gQgQeNiJGg [1]
— Jason Cohen (@JasonJournoDC) November 27, 2025 [2]