Arizona U.S. Senator Mark Kelly admitted he is “[a]bsolutely frustrated” by the odds former President Donald Trump will regain the White House on Election Day during an appearance on “Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos” on KTAR News 92.3.
Kelly told the Phoenix radio station he is currently, “Absolutely frustrated that this guy’s back and has a chance,” to be elected to a second term on November 5.
The former astronaut acknowledged, “There’s something he says at certain times that resonates with people,” and offered, “I think they like that. He doesn’t sound like a politician.”
Kelly then pivoted toward attacks on the former president, declaring, “while he wasn’t a politician, he is now,” and noting that Trump was convicted of felony charges in a New York trial the former president and his supporters called highly politicized.
He then repeated claims made in 2020, which are now largely advanced by Vice President Kamala Harris and her presidential campaign, that Trump disrespected members of the military while in office.
Kelly told the outlet, “he’s also a convicted felon and somebody who has a total lack of respect for those of us who served in the military. And I think it’s fair to say even some contempt,” and stated, “the way he has characterized 1,800 dead Marines at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ or World War One veterans who are buried in the cemetery in Europe, by the way, didn’t even get to come home after being deceased as a bunch of ‘losers.’”
These claims about Trump disparaging service members originated in a 2020 article published by The Atlantic, and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly later claimed they were accurate.
Fired by Trump, the former president has argued Kelly confirmed the claim to increase public interest in his time in the Trump administration, and the Republican Party has since provided 15 witnesses and government documents that appear to contradict the claim.
Kelly later turned to illegal immigration, which polls show remains a key issue for Arizona voters just weeks before Election Day, arguing it was the job of the U.S. Congress to solve the problem and not President Joe Biden or Harris.
“I think it’s important for people to remember that it’s the responsibility of Congress to pass laws and to change immigration and border security policy,” Kelly told KTAR News before presenting the controversial border security bill he advanced with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and James Lankford (R-OK) earlier this year.
While Trump opposed the border bill and urged Republicans to vote against it, the president’s urging came after analysts revealed it would not have meaningfully reduced illegal immigration and instead funded organizations providing services to those the federal government releases into the country after they cross the border.
Kelly’s frustration with the state of the race comes as the RealClearPolling average of polls shows Trump leading Harris by 1.2 percent in the Grand Canyon State. The data aggregator shows Trump with the support of 47.9 percent of voters and Harris at 46.7 percent.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Senator Mark Kelly” by Mark Kelly.
