Stephen A. Smith railed at Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) for appearing in a now-viral video alongside five other Democratic lawmakers, in which they encouraged military service members to disobey illegal orders from President Donald Trump’s administration.
During Wednesday’s episode of his “Straight Shooter” SiriusXM show, the sports commentator argued that Kelly, a retired Navy captain, “crossed the line” and had “no business” delivering the message.
In addition to Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who all have military and intelligence backgrounds, also appeared in the footage that has since amassed 18 million-plus views on X.
“How dare you do that? I’m not a military person, and I know better than that,” Smith said. “But you know better, Senator Kelly. You know better.”
The ESPN host went on to rebuke the Arizona senator for not having gone through the “necessary process” to address his concerns about the Trump administration’s orders.
“You are an elected official in the nation’s capital. We have a constitution. You got a problem — you go through the necessary process,” he said. “Whether it’s [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries in the house or [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer in the Senate or anybody else.”
Smith added, “That is the point… you don’t go in front of the cameras and give military officers or military personnel a directive to ignore their commander-in-chief.”
Stephen A. Smith called out Senator Mark Kelly during Wednesday’s episode of his “Straight Shooter” SiriusXM show.
Noting that he has family members and friends who have served in all four branches of the military, he claimed that “not one of them [said] that [the video] was OK.”
Smith then said that Kelly could’ve “start[ed] articles of impeachment if you think there’s something illegal [going on].”
“I mean, damn it ain’t like y’all haven’t done it before. You impeached [Trump] twice,” he continued. “Where did that get you? Got [Trump’s] behind back in the White House. Had you left him alone since 2020, maybe he wouldn’t be back terrorizing the Democratic Party the way that he is.”
Trump was impeached twice during his first presidency, but was acquitted by the U.S. Senate in both cases.
Elsewhere in the episode, Smith questioned why Kelly and his fellow Democrats didn’t identify what the illegal orders were.
“You didn’t tell us what it was … Trump is giving illegal orders? What are the illegal orders? How come you didn’t tell us [what they were]? Where’s the evidence?” he added.
Smith’s comments came after the Department of Defense announced Monday on X that it is opening an investigation into Kelly following the video’s release.
Trump called the video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” on social media and reposted a message that called for the lawmakers to be executed.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called the video “despicable, reckless, and false” in an X post, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democratic lawmakers of trying to “sow chaos and distrust.”
Meanwhile, GOP Senators John Curtis (Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) defended Kelly in X posts amid the Pentagon probe into “serious allegations of misconduct” against the senator.
Watch Smith’s “Straight Shooter” show below.