Mark Kelly slams Trumps draft deferment as

Senator Mark Kelly unleashed a blistering critique of Donald Trump on Monday, focusing squarely on the president’s file of avoiding navy service.

“Four generations of my household have served our nation. Service is in my blood. The President would not know something about that,” the Arizona Democrat posted on X.

Accompanying his message was a video in which he delivered sharp criticism of Trump and his household’s lack of navy service. Trump famously averted the draft during the Vietnam War period, securing 5 deferments citing bone spurs as the explanation. He never ended up serving in the armed forces.

In stark distinction, Kelly boasts an spectacular file of public service as a former astronaut. He accomplished a Navy profession before profitable election to the U.S. Senate in 2020.

“How many generations of Donald Trump‘s family served in the military? Zero. For me, service to my country is in my blood,” Kelly said in the video accompanying his post. “Donald Trump? He deferred the draft five times because he had bone spurs. Four generations of service earns me the right to speak. Five deferments earns nothing.”

Kelly’s remarks observe Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s choice to revoke his pension following what Hegseth characterised as a “seditious” video. The clip featured Kelly alongside fellow veteran members of Congress urging U.S. service members to refuse “illegal” orders.

The Pentagon revealed on Monday that Kelly’s pension shall be decreased, coinciding with Hegseth’s issuance of a formal letter of censure against Kelly – a doc the protection secretary claims outlines “reckless misconduct” by the retired Navy captain.

Hegseth disclosed that the Defense Department had initiated proceedings to decrease Kelly’s retirement rank, which might consequently consequence in diminished retirement advantages.

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“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly – and five other members of Congress – released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth declared in a assertion on X.

“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War – and the American people – expect justice,” Hegseth said.

According to Hegseth’s tweet, Kelly has 30 days to submit a response difficult the choice to cut back his rank and retirement compensation.

Last November, the Pentagon launched an investigation into Kelly concerning his participation in the video and indicated that potential penalties may embody being recalled to lively obligation and dealing with court-martial proceedings.

However, Hegseth’s Monday assertion implies that the Pentagon has dismissed the more critical course of motion. He continued, however, “Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action.”

Kelly subsequently posted that he pledged to contest the disciplinary motion “with everything I’ve got,” describing Hegseth as “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history.

“Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine fight missions, and 4 missions to space, I risked my life for this nation and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to converse out,” Kelly wrote. “I never anticipated that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would assault me for doing precisely that.

“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder,” Kelly wrote. “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

“Pete Hegseth desires to ship the message to every single retired servicemember that if they are saying one thing he or Donald Trump would not like, they’ll come after them the same method,” he added. “It’s outrageous and it’s unsuitable. There is nothing more un-American than that.”

Kelly was alluding to the 20 airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean and japanese Pacific Ocean that the Trump administration claimed have been being utilized by drug traffickers. These strikes resulted in the deaths of dozens of people.