Young grilled on ABC over Trump's 'seditious' attack on Kelly
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- Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) appeared on ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday, where he was pressed about an "awkward moment" with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) during a period of Trump-administration criticism of Kelly
- Sen. Mark Kelly and five other lawmakers released a video in November directing servicemembers not to follow illegal orders — the clip that triggered Trump's retaliation
- President Trump characterized the lawmakers' video as a "seditious" act, escalating his clash with the Democratic senator
- Trump also stated that elected officials involved in the video could be punished by death, according to the report
- The Hill frames the exchange as an "awkward" on-air moment for the Republican senator, placing a GOP lawmaker in the position of addressing Democratic colleagues facing threats from his own party's president
Why it matters: The incident puts a sitting Republican senator on the spot over a Democratic colleague Trump is openly threatening, highlighting how the "illegal orders" video has rippled beyond the six lawmakers who made it. Trump invoking the death penalty for elected officials over a video about military conduct escalates a constitutional confrontation that already had prompted the original release, and forces GOP members to choose between defending the First Amendment-protected speech of their Senate colleagues and staying aligned with the White House.
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