'It's absurd': Sen. Kelly bites back at Trump, Hegseth threats over 'illegal orders' video

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4.5 • 34K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

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Summary

Senator Mark Kelly, in an interview with Rachel Maddow, emphasized his view that "it's almost comical" that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are calling it a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that he cited part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in a recent video. Kelly explained his participation in the video in the context of protecting members of the military from a president who "doesn't seem to care about the Constitution, the rule of law."

Transcript

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0:00.0	I got two things to tell you right off the bat. First, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly is here live with us tonight.
0:05.0	He, of course, is a former astronaut, a combat-decorated Navy pilot. The Trump administration is now threatening him,
0:14.1	literally threatening to recall him to active duty in the Navy specifically so they can court-martial him. They want to do this
0:22.4	because Commander Kelly committed the grave sin of reminding U.S. service members that they must not
0:29.6	obey illegal orders. It is literally required of U.S. service members in the Uniform Code of Military
0:36.0	Justice that they must not obey
0:38.3	illegal orders. But Trump is now threatening Mark Kelly with arrest and prosecution for saying
0:45.8	that true thing. So Senator Mark Kelly is going to be joining us live here tonight. He will, I think,
0:51.6	give us his response to those threats from the president.
0:55.4	That'll be in just a moment.
0:56.7	The other thing I have to tell you tonight is that a little bit of business, I have a new
1:01.5	podcast coming out.
1:03.2	It's called Burn Order.
1:05.1	It is six episodes only.
1:07.4	First two episodes come out next week on Monday.
1:10.7	Or if you subscribe to MS Now Premium, you get those
1:14.2	first two episodes early. You can get the first two episodes on Friday. And that's nice if you want
1:19.3	to listen to them during your Thanksgiving travels this weekend. But again, the new podcast is
1:24.1	called Burn Order. It is free to listen. It comes out next week. The trailer is out now. If you want to hear the trailer, just use your phone to scan that blob thing on your screen, and it'll bring you right to the trailer, and you can decide if you want to listen. I should also tell you, if you are in the Los Angeles area, we're going to be doing a live event with me and some of the people involved in the podcast. That event is going to be
1:45.9	Sunday, December 14th at the Orphium Theater in Los Angeles. Tickets are on sale for that as of right now.
1:54.5	Again, Sunday, December 14th in Los Angeles, I'll see you there. And if you's, if you're my Aunt Cheryl watching this right now
2:02.7	from Pasadena, Aunt Cheryl, you do not have to buy a ticket. I saved a seat for you already.
	...

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