Sirius XM host Stephen A. Smith refused to apologize on Thursday for criticizing Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly when “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin tried getting him to backtrack his comments.
Smith bashed Kelly on Nov. 28 for urging service members to ignore so-called illegal orders given by President Donald Trump after he once served as a combat Navy pilot. When Hostin told Smith that she was allowing him an opportunity to change his opinion, the Sirius XM host did not budge and continued to hold the same criticisms of Kelly.
“‘If you’re doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That’s why the military said it won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief.’ Now, given the fact that the secretary himself said that, I’d love to give you the opportunity to perhaps change your position on what you said,” Hostin said.
“I’m not changing a thing. I didn’t stutter when I said it … As it pertains to Mark Kelly, what I was talking about is military. What I did was get on the phone with family and friends who have served in the military, and I said, we’re not civilians. This is not the court of law,” Smith replied. “You can be implicated for implying something if you are a former military member or you are a present military member. It wasn’t what Mark Kelly said, it’s the fact that he was a combat Navy pilot who served in the military, who would tell folks, ignore an order, when it could get them in a world of trouble.”
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On his show, Smith raged at Kelly and alleged that he knew better than to demand that service members ignore orders from Trump. He stated that if Trump had done anything wrong, Kelly could bring articles of impeachment against the president.
“Here you are again with this nonsense. How dare you do that? I’m not a military person, and I know better than that!” Smith said. “You don’t tell military men and women to ignore an order from the commander-in-chief. You don’t do that!”
Kelly and five other Democratic congresspeople posted a video to X on Nov. 18 where they called on service members to “stand up for our laws and our Constitution.” As a retired Navy captain, Kelly remains subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and is eligible for recall as a retiree, the Department of War said in its announcement.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on November 24 that the Pentagon is investigating Kelly and that his conduct will be “addressed appropriately.”
Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who also participated in the video, could not name a single illegal order given by Trump to service members during a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
Trump suggested that the six Democrats committed crimes “punishable by death” in a Nov. 20 post on Truth Social.
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