ABC’s Jon Karl Grills GOP Senator for Failing to Defend Mark Kelly Against Trump’s Claims of ‘Sedition’ — While Sitting Right Next to Kelly

ABC News’s Jonathan Karl pressed Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) on why he didn’t publicly defend Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) when the president accused the retired naval officer of “sedition, punishable by death” — in a wild moment as the two men sat side-by-side.

On Sunday’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Karl brought up what he termed an “uncomfortable” subject.

“Senator Young, what was your reaction when the president of the United States accused Sen. Kelly of sedition punishable by death? when the secretary of Defense tried to punish him because he made a video telling the message that people shouldn’t, service members shouldn’t obey unlawful orders?” Karl asked.

“I’m glad you asked,” Young said. “So, as Mark can share with you, my first reaction was to text Mark and engage in a dialog that very morning, and we had an exchange back and forth, an exchange which I will keep private, about what I should do, how I should respond, where this led, and so forth,” Young said. And so, it demonstrates that it’s really important to develop trust among your colleagues and solidarity, even during what I know was a difficult time for for Mark.”

“Can I just press you for a second?” Karl asked. “Because it seemed like a pretty outrageous thing, the president of the United States suggesting that this senator next to you could be put to death for something he said. And there wasn’t much of a of an outcry among Republicans in Congress over that.”

“There are times when one must speak up when you feel strongly about things. That was a case when one could fairly say that should have been the singular moment,” Young admitted. “But just keep in mind that there are trade-offs. And this gets back to what Mark was talking about. It’s very difficult, this job, to navigate the shoals and assess, you know, the moral calculus of the moment and assess when you should go to the wall, so to speak.”

Kelly said, “I had one of my colleagues, who I won’t mention who it was, but said, ‘Hey, this is a food fight. When this turns into a knife fight, I will say something. So, there’s a little bit of that. I mean, sometimes it feels like a knife fight for me.”

“I mean, when the president of the United States is saying you could be put to death,” Karl added.

“Well, also, when you find out that they’re in front of a grand jury, right?” Kelly said.

“By the way, they tried to indict you and failed,” Karl said, and Kelly added, “For seditious conspiracy!”

Watch the clip above via ABC News’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!