🚨 Sen. Mark Kelly Calls on GOP to Condemn Trump’s Threats

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) on Sunday called on Republicans in Congress to denounce President Trump’s threats against him and five other Democratic lawmakers who said that service members can disobey illegal orders.

“We’ve heard very little, basically crickets, from Republicans in the United States Congress about what the president has said about hanging members of Congress,” Kelly told host Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Kelly acknowledged Trump and GOP lawmakers asking Democrats to tone down their political rhetoric in the wake of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September, asking, “what happened to that?”

Earlier this week, Kelly, along with Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.), directly addressed active-duty military and intelligence personnel in a video on the social platform X,

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

— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025

saying, “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”

All six lawmakers have military or intelligence backgrounds. Kelly served in the Navy for 25 years, reaching the rank of captain.

Days later, the president called the lawmakers “traitors” on his Truth Social platform, later saying that they were guilty of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

On Saturday evening, Trump repeated his allegations of sedition and said the lawmakers “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW.”

Kelly, whose wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), retired from Congress after being shot in the head in 2011, said his office has received “increased threats” since the president’s remarks. The Hill has reached out to U.S. Capitol Police for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified on Thursday that the president wants the lawmakers to face consequences but does not want to execute members of Congress.

Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), meanwhile, have criticized Trump’s rhetoric. On “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Paul called the president’s remarks “reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible” and said the country “can do better.”

Tillis said Thursday that Trump “should always be thinking less about the adults you’re reacting to, probably what was objectionable behavior by the Democrats, and the kids that are watching, too,” according to HuffPost’s Igor Bobic.