Karoline Leavitt Defends Mark Kelly Probe After ‘Egregious and Completely Irresponsible’ Social Media Post | Video

Karoline Leavitt sounded off on Sen. Mark Kelly and five other Democratic leaders after their message to military members, calling their social video “egregious and completely irresponsible” and defending the Pentagon’s probe into the Arizona senator. The White House press secretary appeared on Fox News Monday, where she commented on the Pentagon’s investigation against Kelly and laid into the Democrats for telling members of the military that they could refuse illegal orders. “We believe it’s deeply unfortunate that these Democrat senators made this egregious and completely irresponsible statement,” Leavitt said. “Let’s be very clear. These Democrat senators knew exactly what they were doing. It’s not a coincidence all of them have military or national security experience in their background. They were leaning into that experience to try and give a wink and a nod to the 1.3 million active-duty service members who serve in our United States armed forces, and essentially encourage them to defy the orders of their commander in chief — which is illegal, by the way.” As Leavitt continued, she defended that Trump and members of his administration have never given an illegal order. “This administration respects and abides by the law, and these officials know it,” she shared. “They are trying to sow chaos and distrust, which is a very dangerous thing to do within the military’s ranks. The sanctity of our military respects and relies on law and order and the chain of command, and that’s what this administration is trying to say. And that’s why the Department of War opened up this investigation against Senator Mark Kelly today.” Later on, Leavitt accused the Democratic party of being “overtaken by Trump Derangement Syndrome,” slamming Kelly and company’s video statement as “deranged.” Leavitt’s criticism comes almost a week after Democrats — including Sens. Kelly and Elissa Slotkin — released a video directed to military service members, noting that “threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from aboard, but from right here right at home.” “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” the video message noted. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.” However, the video did not highlight any specific examples of illegal orders. Trump, in response to the social media post, blasted the Democratic leaders as “traitors,” claiming the message was “really bad and dangerous to our country.” He further wrote on Truth Social, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.” Though, he slightly backtracked his sentiments during an appearance on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Friday. “I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days, it was death,” he clarified. “That was seditious behavior, that was a big deal. You know, nothing’s a big deal, today’s a different world.” On Monday, the Pentagon confirmed it was reviewing “serious allegations of misconduct” against Sen. Kelly. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth later confirmed that only Kelly out of the “Seditious Six” was being probed by the DOD because the other five did not fall under the department’s jurisdiction. “One is CIA and four are former military but not ‘retired,’ so they are no longer subject to UCMJ,” Hegseth wrote on X Monday referring to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. “However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ—and he knows that.” He added: “The Department is reviewing his statements and actions, which were addressed directly to all troops while explicitly using his rank and service affiliation—lending the appearance of authority to his words. Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.” You can watch Leavitt’s statement in the video above.