{"id":66581,"date":"2026-02-17T16:59:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/mark-kelly-eyes-2028-white-house-run-while-fighting-trump-demotion-threat\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:59:37","slug":"mark-kelly-eyes-2028-white-house-run-while-fighting-trump-demotion-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/mark-kelly-eyes-2028-white-house-run-while-fighting-trump-demotion-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Kelly eyes 2028 White House run while fighting Trump demotion threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sen. Mark Kelly<\/a>, D-Ariz., has confirmed he will “seriously consider” a run for president in 2028, opening the door to a potential White House bid.<\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s comments to the BBC Feb. 16 came as he remains locked in a legal and political battle with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

In an interview, the retired Navy captain and former astronaut made clear he has not yet decided whether to launch a campaign but confirmed the idea is under consideration.<\/p>\n

“I have people talk to me about it all the time, but we have an election in 2026<\/a> that I’m really worried about. We’ve got to get through that first. I will make a decision.”<\/p>\n

SEN MARK KELLY DIGS IN ON ‘ILLEGAL ORDERS’ STANCE, TELLS JIMMY KIMMEL HE’S ‘NOT BACKING DOWN’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Kelly emphasized that any choice would involve discussions with his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, their daughters and his identical twin brother, also a former astronaut.<\/p>\n

“You know, with my wife, Gabby, with my two daughters, and my brother, I have a twin brother who was also an astronaut<\/a>. Think about for a second how this would affect him. We’re identical twins,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So you know, I’ll seriously consider this, because we are in some seriously challenging times right now,” Kelly added.<\/p>\n

KELLY SHRUGS OFF TRUMP COURT-MARTIAL THREAT, SAYS GROWING UP IN TONY SOPRANO\u2019S HOMETOWN MADE HIM \u2018RESILIENT\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s comments came within days of two major developments in his standoff with the administration.<\/p>\n

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a federal judge blocked the Pentagon<\/a> from demoting him Feb. 12 over a controversial video about “illegal orders.”<\/p>\n

A grand jury declined to indict him and five other Democratic lawmakers on seditious conspiracy charges.<\/p>\n

The dispute is over a 90-second video Kelly recorded with fellow Democratic lawmakers reminding U.S. service members that they are not obligated to follow “illegal” commands.<\/p>\n

“Our laws are clear,” Kelly said in the clip. “You can refuse illegal orders.”<\/p>\n

SEN MARK KELLY LINKS TRUMP\u2019S \u2018DEATH\u2019 POST TO CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION, WARNS OF VIOLENCE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

President Donald Trump<\/a> had labeled the video “seditious behavior” and suggested the lawmakers be arrested.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department sought indictments, but a grand jury refused to bring charges.<\/p>\n

War Secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a> had also moved to initiate retirement-grade determination proceedings against Kelly, potentially reducing his rank as a retired Navy captain and cutting his retirement pay.<\/p>\n

Kelly sued, arguing the action was unconstitutional retaliation for protected speech.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon agreed to temporarily block the demotion, writing that the administration had likely violated Kelly\u2019s First Amendment<\/a> rights and warning against “shrinking the First Amendment liberties of retired service members.” Hegseth has vowed to appeal.<\/p>\n

“This will be immediately appealed,” Hesgeth wrote in the post. “Sedition is sedition, \u2018Captain.\u2019”<\/p>\n

PENTAGON LAUNCHES FULL COMMAND INVESTIGATION INTO SEN. MARK KELLY OVER \u2018SERIOUS MISCONDUCT\u2019 ALLEGATIONS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In the Feb. 17 interview with the BBC, Kelly also reflected on his career.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if I would be the best person in this job. I am a lot different than most of these other 100 senators<\/a> there are,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m one of the very few engineers. I’m the only person with a graduate degree in engineering in the United States Senate. I’ve got combat experience that’s kind of rare,” Kelly explained.<\/p>\n

“I spent 25 years in the military. I didn’t start out in some state legislature somewhere. I don’t think of myself as a politician. I’m a Navy pilot who was so fortunate and so lucky, in fact, that I had the opportunity to fly this incredible spaceship<\/a>, you know, four times and back.”<\/p>\n

Kelly also struck a note of humility about a possible White House run.<\/p>\n

“I never thought I’d find myself here. So I will obviously think about this. It’s a serious decision. I just haven’t made it yet,“<\/strong> he added.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital has reached out to Kelly’s office for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., has confirmed he will “seriously consider” a run for president in 2028, opening the door to a potential White House bid. Kelly\u2019s comments to the BBC Feb. 16 came as he remains locked in a legal and political battle with the Trump administration. In an interview, the retired Navy captain and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}