Mark Kelly Hits Back After Elon Musk Doubles Down On ‘Traitor’ Insult: ‘Who Is Elon Standing With?’

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) hit back at Elon Musk after the billionaire Trump ally doubled down on calling the former astronaut and veteran a “traitor” over his recent visit to Ukraine.

In a fresh volley aired on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront, Kelly dismissed Musk’s loyalty test as unserious and more aligned with oligarchs than American interests.

The return fire came after Musk reignited the fight during a Fox News sit-down with Brett Baier Thursday night, saying: “I think somebody should care about the interests of the United States above another country, and if they don’t they’re a traitor.”

Baier — perhaps sensing the optics — pointed out Kelly’s military record but Musk didn’t flinch: “That doesn’t mean it’s OK for him to put the interests of another country above America.”

Speaking to CNN host Erin Burnett after the interview aired, Kelly replied: “I don’t even know if he deserves a response.”

But offering one anyway, the senator responded: “But what I will say is that I’ve spent an entire career standing up for our country, defending our country, flying in combat over Iraq, flying in space, on the space shuttle, serving in the United States Senate. My entire life has been about serving this country. And I always stand with the best interest of our nation, standing with our allies and standing up for democracy is in the best interest of the United States.”

He continued: “And when you consider—I mean, who is Elon standing with at this point? A bunch of billionaires. It seems to me that some folks in the administration sort of switched.”

Rounding on Musk’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, he added: “I would put Elon at this point in the category of being much closer to Russia on this issue. This specific issue in a war against one of our allies, against one of our adversaries… I want this thing to end as much as anybody. But he throws this traitor word around, at least with regards to me, fairly freely. I don’t think he’s a serious guy, and he hasn’t given this a lot of thought.”

The host raised the reports that Kelly had recently ditched his Tesla weeks ago, citing Musk’s political backing of Trump and actions in cutting federal jobs.

“I sold the car after he called me a traitor the first time,” the senator said.

Watch above via CNN.