Sen. Ruben Gallego bashed War Secretary Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon announced its investigation into "serious allegations of misconduct" against fellow Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and five other Democrats calling on service members to "refuse illegal orders."
“You will never, ever, ever even be half the man that Sen. Kelly is,” said Gallego, a former Marine, about Hegseth during an appearance on CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt. “You, sir, are a coward! And the fact that you are following this order from the president shows how big of a coward you are. And I can’t wait till you no longer are the Secretary of Defense.”
President Donald Trump called on the arrest of Kelly and Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado over a video in which he claimed all showed SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” which he said was "punishable by DEATH" in posts shared on his Truth Social account on November 20. Hegseth referred to the lawmakers as the "Seditious Six" while announcing the investigation of Kelly and referred to the video as “despicable, reckless and false … Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately,” via the New York Post.
Hegseth confirmed that Kelly was the only member of the group subject to War Department discipline as he is a retired Naval officer. Gallego also shared a video on social media in which he cursed out Hegseth over his investigation into Kelly.
“There’s no reason why they’re going after him,” Gallego said. “He was doing his duty and just reminding people about their rights as service members. And Secretary Hegseth, all these guys—f**k you guys. You’re not gonna be able to scare us. We have a right to defend the Constitution of the United States. We have the right to tell other service members that they have a right to ignore illegal orders, and you’re not going to be able to intimidate us.”