Pathetic: ABC, CBS Fawn Over Democrat Mark Kelly, Cheer Him ‘Firing Back’ at Hegseth

A day after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth moved to censure Democratic Senator Mark Kelly (AZ) for his poke-the-bear video last year all-but-directly encouraging members of the military to refuse to orders from President Trump, Kelly ran whining Tuesday to ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS Mornings as both were more than willing to celebrate him “fighting back” and “speaking up” for what he believes in.

The ABC interview even included his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ). Co-host Michael Strahan teased an interview by chief business, economics, and technology correspondent Rebecca Jarvis in which Kelly would “fir[e] back...after the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s censure, accusing the retired Navy captain of making seditious statements.”

Jarvis fretted “these allegations, they could cost him his military rank and retirement pay, but this morning Senator Kelly and Gabby Giffords say they are fighting back.”

It began with Kelly couching his wink, wink, nudge, nudge comments seeking to purposefully sow dissension in the military as free speech: “I have a right just like every other American to say what I think, what I believe.”

Jarvis framed the administration’s position as merely believing “Kelly and other lawmakers counseled members of the armed forces to refuse lawful orders.” This led into her first aired softball: “Is there anything in retrospect that you would have said or done differently over these last several months?”

Kelly replied he had simply “repeated what is in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the law for the military.” But, as our Jorge Bonilla noted at the time, what Kelly and his colleagues did could have run counter of 18 USC § 2387 (which we summarized above).

After recalling that President Trump had posted on Truth Social about the ultimate punishment for seditious treason (death), Jarvis lobbed another softball that she probably attempted to paint as a tough one: “How do you respond to critics who say your message risks being read through a partisan lens inside what should be a non-partisan military?”

Kelly wasn’t pressed on his answer, which insisted the video was “not partisan” and cartoonishly claimed the President should have praised him for.

“The censure will result in a demotion of Kelly’s rank and retirement benefits. Kelly, who served over 25 years in the U.S. Navy, and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, vowing to fight the action with everything they’ve got,” Jarvis swooned.

Following sound from both Giffords and Kelly insisting they won’t shirk from the kerfuffle, Jarvis concluded back live that the outcome of a censure could “result in discipline and that it could subject him to criminal prosecution or further administrative action.”

CBS Mornings wasn’t an better. In fact, most of it was spent asking him predictable questions (and hearing predictable, partisan answers) about the U.S. military operations in Venezuela.

Click the X post to read all their questions, including the classic “what is your response” to the Trump administration being mean to him:

What weak tea.

Even though she has appeared to put the CBS Evening News back on the right track, Bari Weiss still has a lot of work to do.

To see the relevant transcripts from January 6, click here (for ABC) and here (for CBS).