Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly on Monday accused Pete Hegseth of “playing army” after the defense secretary posted a children's meme mocking his military's extrajudicial killings.
Speaking at a news conference, Kelly pinpointed what's so troubling about Hegseth's lackluster leadership at the Pentagon: He's like a little kid playing dress-up.
“I mean, think about it: He's running around the stage talking about lethality and belligerence and killing people. We have the most competent, capable military this planet has ever seen. That's not the message that should be coming from the Secretary of Defense,” Kelly said.
Instead of focusing on the military mission, “he's running around the stage like he's a 12-year-old boy playing army. And it's funny, it's awkward,” Kelly said. “And I can't imagine what our allies are thinking when they look at this guy in this position, one of the most important positions in our country.”
Kelly was referring to Hegseth. outrageous summit in September, when he invited crowds of high-ranking military personnel to listen to him lecture about how much he hated the way fat people with beards made him feel.
The Arizona senator appears to be fighting back after being targeted by the Trump administration. Last week Hegseth threatened with a military tribunal Kelly, a former astronaut and US Navy officer, after he appeared on video with fellow Democrats calling on members of the US military and intelligence community to disobey illegal orders.
Kelly also criticized Hegseth for AI image placement about popular children's character Franklin the Turtle blowing up “drug boats” out of court, just days after it was revealed that the secretary had potentially committed own war crime.
“He's on the National Nuclear Weapons Command and last night he posted turtles with missile faces on the Internet. I mean, did you see that? He's the Secretary of Defense, he's not a serious person. He should have been fired after Signal gateand then every day,” Kelly said.
Kelly marked that threats to his family's life have “obviously” increased since President Donald Trump last week accused him of inciting an insurrection “punishable by death.” Hegseth also charged Kelly with incitement of insurrection, although even pro-Trump legal experts argue that this statement is not true.
