‘Sorry You’re at the Kid’s Table’: Pete Hegseth Mocked for Raging at Mark Kelly While His Deputy Brokers Russia-Ukraine Deal
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Pipe down, Pete — the adults are talking.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been shredded on social media for dunking on Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) while one of his underlings works to secure an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
It all started on Monday when Hegseth replied to an X post by Kelly, who has been threatened with a court-martial for his participation in a video with other Democrats, telling active duty service members that they don’t have to go along with “illegal orders.”
President Trump has said the video amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.”
“So ‘Captain’ Kelly, not only did your sedition video intentionally undercut good order & discipline…but you can’t even display your uniform correctly,” Hegseth wrote. “Your medals are out of order & rows reversed. When/if you are recalled to active duty, it’ll start with a uniform inspection.”
While it does appear Hegseth is correct in his criticism of Kelly’s uniform, many users have questioned if there are more pressing matters for the secretary of defense than rage-tweeting against a decorated Navy veteran and sitting U.S. senator:
On the r/Navy community of Reddit, commenters are outraged that Hegseth would stoop so low as to trash a decorated veteran.
“I think I’m going to trust an actual combat vet over a reality TV host,” one user posted.
“Hegseth should be embarrassed to be in the same room with [Kelly],” said another.
The controversy erupts stateside as U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday during ongoing negotiations to end the nearly four-year conflict, according to the Associated Press.
For the last two weeks, Driscoll has been the point man for talks with Russian officials in the latest bid to secure peace between Vladimir Putin’s regime and Ukraine.
Driscoll was reportedly picked by Trump for the job after some in his administration expressed distrust in Hegseth.
“There’s not a lot of trust in Hegseth to deliver these messages to key leaders,” a person familiar with the situation told Politico. “There is more trust in Dan to do that right now.”
