‘Sometimes We Put Idiots In Charge of Things’: Mark Kelly Takes Swipe at Pete Hegseth Disrespecting ‘Apolitical’ Military

(Screenshot via @MacFarlane News on X)

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) took a swipe at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for disrespecting the “apolitical nature” of the military during an interview with MeidasTouch chief White House correspondent Scott MacFarlane.

In Friday’s interview, MacFarlane began, “There seems to be this very deliberate attempt by the Defense Secretary to, I don’t know, communicate some alpha male, bro-style, testosterone talk. Every time he speaks publicly, he seems to be invoking some version of tough guy. How do you think that lands with service members?”

Kelly, who was a NASA astronaut and attained the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy answered, “Well, I’m not sure. I mean, there’s some evidence we see — I mean, he got on a stage in front of admirals and senior enlisted, ran around and talked about lethality and killing people and expected this big round of applause at the end. And when there was — you know, what he got was crickets.”

Kelly continued:

I’ve got tremendous respect for the apolitical nature of the military. And he was giving a political speech, and he’s trying to communicate his vision for what he wants the U.S. military to be. We are the most lethal, capable fighting force this planet has ever seen. Our problem isn’t lethality, you know. Our problem is, sometimes we put idiots in charge of things and they make big mistakes and will take this country to war for no good reason. And it’s always guys like, you know, certainly Donald Trump who avoided military service. You know, Pete Hegseth, he’s, I think, he’s a little bit harder to explain. I think the reason is, he should know better. I think he missed something when he served on active duty and didn’t really understand the fundamental nature of the U.S. military.

“We are capable, we’re lethal — That’s not the problem,” Kelly said. “We don’t need more testosterone in the U.S. military right now. What we need is better leadership.”

Kelly is awaiting a ruling by a federal appeals court on whether the Pentagon can punish him for participating in a video by Democratic members of Congress who crafted a video telling enlisted people they did not have to obey illegal orders. At stake is Kelly’s retired rank of  captain and a reduction in his military pension.

Watch above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!