Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly has drawn a sharp contrast between the past and present views of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, spotlighting a resurfaced video from 2016. The clip shows Hegseth, then a conservative commentator, speaking unequivocally about the military's obligation to refuse orders that violate the law.
A Viral Video from the Past
On Tuesday, Senator Kelly posted a segment to X from his recent CNN interview on "Erin Burnett OutFront." The chosen clip featured Hegseth at an April 2016 event hosted by the Conservative Forum of Silicon Valley. In the now-viral footage, Hegseth states plainly that service members must face consequences for war crimes and are not bound to follow unlawful commands from their commander-in-chief.
"I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes," Hegseth said in 2016. "If you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that." He emphasized the military's ethos and standard of being above the actions of adversaries.
Contrast with Current Political Climate
This throwback video gained renewed attention following Hegseth's controversial September 2 double-strike, an act critics have labeled a potential war crime. The timing coincided with a political firestorm last month, when Kelly joined other Democratic veterans and former intelligence officers in a video. That message urged service members to stand up to President Donald Trump's administration if they received illegal orders.
Trump responded furiously on social media, denouncing the video as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR" and appearing to endorse a post calling for the lawmakers' execution. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified Trump did not want members of Congress executed.
Hegseth retaliated against the Democrats' video by suggesting Kelly, a retired Navy fighter pilot, could face investigation as the only one in the group still under Pentagon jurisdiction due to his formal retirement status.
Kelly Questions Hegseth's Reversal
In his tweet with the 2016 clip, Kelly wrote: "Pete Hegseth says he's going to court-martial me for saying the same exact thing he said 9 years ago. What changed for Pete? Well to start, he spends all day thinking about how he can suck up to Trump."
Expanding on this during his CNN interview, Kelly told Erin Burnett that Hegseth was correct in 2016. "It's exactly what we said," Kelly stated. "But when we said it, Pete Hegseth now said — eight years later or … nine years later — he says, what we said was false and reckless. And I think it begs the question: What has changed?"
Kelly offered his own answer: "And it's pretty obvious what has changed is we have an unqualified secretary of defense who only cares about sucking up to this president, and loyalty to this president. That's the difference. It's who's commander-in-chief." The retired astronaut's comments underscore a deepening debate over military ethics and political loyalty in the current administration.
