Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona dug in on his call for the military to reject illegal orders during an interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday saying he is not backing down.

“You can’t keep track of this guy and what he says. I’ll tell you this though, I’m not backing down. We said something very simple. Members of the military need to follow the law. We wanted to say that we have their backs. His response, kill them.”

Kelly was referring to President Donald Trump.

A group of six lawmakers appeared in a video posted on social media encouraging service members to refuse illegal orders. The video led to Trump accusing the Democratic lawmakers of sedition after he initially reacted to the video by saying punishable by DEATH.

The Department of War announced Monday that it has opened a formal review into allegations of misconduct against Kelly a retired Navy officer and former astronaut over the video.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth criticized a post Kelly made about his service telling the lawmaker you can’t even display your uniform correctly.

Kelly hit back at Hegseth’s criticism during his conversation with Kimmel.

“This is what he can do this week, go after me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is a law in the military, which is kind of wild because we recited something in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he is going to prosecute me under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for reciting the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is so ridiculous, it is like you can’t make this s— up.”

Kimmel asked Kelly if he was actually worried about the response from the Trump administration.

“What I am worried about is the reaction and what this transmits to the military and the public, which is basically, shut up and listen to that guy. That is not the way our system works. My oath and every member of the military took is loyalty to the Constitution, not to a person. He is trying to get some fear out there, and fear can be contagious, but what also can be contagious is courage and patriotism.”

Kimmel said people were worried about speaking out and called it flat-out un-American.

“It is how democracy dies. It is right out of the playbook. The playbook of authoritarianism, that’s what they do. They try to suppress speech. Every one of us has First Amendment speech rights. I think the president is infringing on those, and he is sending a strong message, you don’t want to cross him and your loyalty should be to him. It should not. It always should be to the Constitution.”

Kelly also spoke to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday telling her he will not be intimidated.

“I said something that was pretty simple and non-controversial, and that was that members of the military should follow the law. And in response to that, Donald Trump said, I should be executed, I should be hanged. I should be prosecuted. I’m not going to be silenced. I’m not going to be intimidated.”

The Department of War declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

Kelly’s media tour following the investigation announcement shows he plans to fight back publicly rather than quietly cooperate with the review. His appearances on sympathetic liberal programs like Kimmel and Maddow give him friendly platforms to make his case.

The Arizona senator is framing himself as a defender of the Constitution standing up against an authoritarian president. This narrative plays well with Democratic audiences but ignores the fact that encouraging troops to disobey their commander in chief undermines military discipline.

Kelly’s claim that he was simply reciting the Uniform Code of Military Justice oversimplifies what happened. The video he appeared in was clearly designed to encourage military personnel to question and potentially refuse orders from the Trump administration.

Secretary Hegseth’s criticism of Kelly’s uniform display adds a personal element to the clash between the senator and the administration. The War Secretary is signaling that Kelly’s military credentials will not protect him from scrutiny.

Kelly insists his oath is to the Constitution not to a person. However critics argue that telling troops to refuse orders from their duly elected commander in chief is itself a threat to constitutional order.

The investigation into Kelly represents an unprecedented action against a sitting senator. His status as a retired Navy captain means he technically remains subject to military justice even while serving in Congress.

Kelly’s defiant stance suggests he believes the investigation will ultimately help him politically by making him look like a victim of Trump’s vindictiveness rather than someone who crossed a serious line.