Arizona Senator Mark Kelly fired back at Elon Musk for branding him a “traitor” for visiting Ukraine to meet soldiers wounded in its war with Russia.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, the Democratic lawmaker and a former U.S. Navy combat pilot said Musk should “go back to building rockets.”
“As I was getting sworn into the United States Navy, I swore an oath to our Constitution, to protect and defend the Constitution. I have lived that oath my entire life,” Kelly said Monday.
“And the only oath I can think of that maybe Elon has sworn is an oath to his checking account, to his pocketbook. An oath, maybe, to ruining the lives of veterans.”
After elaborating that the unelected billionaire and his Department of Government Efficiency were ruining the lives of federal workers, Kelly added: “Elon needs to, you know, go back to making rockets, that’s what he should focus on. He shouldn’t be focused on this slash-and-burn of the federal government.”
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill Monday, Kelly doubled down saying that Musk should go “back to building rockets” and claimed he’s “not a serious guy.”
Musk’s comments come after he has shown strong support for President Donald Trump’s controversial stance on Ukraine. The spat occurred after Kelly visited Kyiv last week, his third trip to the Ukrainian capital, where he met wounded Ukrainian servicemen, among other officials, military leaders and embassy staff.
After leaving Ukraine on Sunday, Kelly took to X to share photographs of his trip and a series of posts in a thread, writing: “What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people.”
He also challenged Trump’s refusal to agree to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for U.S. security guarantees in any peace agreement with Russia to prevent further casualties.
“Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin,” the congressman added.
Responding to Kelly’s thread, Musk, one of the president’s closest advisors, stated: “You are a traitor.”
“Traitor?,” Kelly replied in a separate X post Monday. “Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”
The dispute erupted just weeks after Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III” during a contentious Oval Office meeting.
The Ukrainian president left the White House without signing a minerals deal to secure U.S. help in ending the war with Russia. Zelensky initially refused to apologize over the spat but said his relationship with the president is salvageable. He later called the gathering “regrettable.”
After the meeting, the Trump administration paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. This past Sunday, the president said that he had “just about” lifted the intelligence pause and was looking at fresh tariffs on Russia.
Last week, Zelensky softened his stance and said he was ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” and that it was “time to make things right” between the two nations.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff claimed that Zelensky apologized to the president in a letter.
Saudi Arabia is set to host talks between Ukraine and the U.S. on Tuesday – nearly a month after a Russian delegation’s first round of meetings with Trump’s team.
Trump said over the weekend that he was optimistic there would be “a lot of progress” at the talks, but also added that he was unsure whether Ukraine would survive Russia’s invasion.
