'You have to make examples': Jesse Watters praises Pentagon's investigation into Mark Kelly
Hegseth announced the investigation and argued that the lawmakers’ video undermined military discipline.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYThe Independent is an established news publisher and this article has a named author. The report attributes key claims to named speakers and an official Pentagon statement, though this text alone does not establish its correction record.
- Source type — Established international news publisher; supports a solid baseline for institutional credibility.
- Author attribution — A named reporter is credited.
- Transparency — The article identifies speakers and attributes the Pentagon’s statement, but offers limited independent corroboration.
- Editorial standards — The text is presented as a reported news article; correction practices are not evident here.
The article reports the Pentagon’s statement and quotes the principal participants, including Kelly’s response. It provides little independent legal or military context and does not include an outside expert assessment of the investigation or the video.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes the Pentagon’s stated rationale and responses from Kelly and Slotkin, but does not independently test the legal claims or provide outside analysis of the investigation.
- Source diversity — The report includes official statements and television commentary, but no independent expert or legal source.
- Counterarguments presented — Kelly and Slotkin respond to the investigation and the criticism of the lawmakers’ video.
- Opinion vs reporting — The article is framed as news and attributes evaluative claims to their speakers.
- Omitted context — It gives little context on the legal standards that would apply to the investigation.
The article uses mostly attributed language and presents statements from Watters, Hegseth, Kelly and Slotkin. Its headline foregrounds Watters’s praise, but the article does not adopt a clear partisan verdict.
- Language tone — The report largely uses neutral descriptions and attributed quotations.
- Source selection — It includes statements supporting the investigation and responses from the lawmakers under scrutiny.
- Headline — The headline highlights Watters’s endorsement of the investigation without explicitly endorsing it itself.
Fox News host Jesse Watters praised the Pentagon’s investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly after Kelly and five other Democrats urged military personnel to refuse unlawful orders. Kelly said the investigation would not deter him from holding the administration accountable.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced an investigation into Kelly, a retired Navy commander, after Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers posted a video urging military personnel to disobey illegal orders. The Pentagon said Kelly remains subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that the inquiry could lead to a recall for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures. Hegseth said the video undermined military discipline and could put service members in danger.
Watters praised the investigation on Fox News, saying, “You have to make examples out of people.” Kelly rejected the effort as intimidation and said it would not stop him from holding the Trump administration accountable. Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Colorado Rep. Jason Crow were among the other lawmakers involved; Slotkin said threats of death for disagreement were beyond the pale.
Community verdict
14 VOTESCounts every outlet’s report of this story. See all 12
- Readers of left-leaning coverage: 55% good look
- Readers of right-leaning coverage: not enough votes yet
Votes cast on this page
Votes cast on this page: ▲ 0 · ◆ 0 · ▼ 0
People in this story
SWIPE →Secretary of Defense who announced the investigation into Kelly
Arizona senator under Pentagon investigation after participating in a video about refusing unlawful military orders
Kelly's version of this story ↗Michigan senator who participated in the video and criticized threats of death for political disagreement
President who had accused the six lawmakers of sedition
Colorado representative who participated in the video
Part of a bigger story
10 OUTLETS- ARTICLES
- 12
- OUTLETS
- 10
- AVG CRED
- 59
- Wonkette · Whiskeydick Pete Hegseth Court-Martialing Mark Kelly For Not Doing A Sedition
- The Independent · Mark Kelly drops brutal two-word takedown of Hegseth on Kimmel show after Defense Secretary seeks his court martial
- Latin Times · Mark Kelly Tells Kimmel Pete Hegseth Is Carrying Out Trump's 'Playbook of Authoritarianism': How Democracies Die'
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