On Sunday, Kelly shared details of his trip to Ukraine in a post on the X social media platform.
“Just left Ukraine,” he wrote. “What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people. Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin.”
Hours later, Musk replied with a single sentence: “You are a traitor.”
The billionaire did not explain the reasoning behind the attack.
“Traitor?” Kelly shot back on 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.”
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It’s not the first time Musk has used X to go after Kelly. In February the face of DOGE accused the senator of being a “shill.”
“Look — he can go to war behind his keyboard all he wants,” Kelly responded. “It’s a free country. But I’ve launched into orbit 4 times, I flew 39 combat missions in Desert Storm, and I held my wife’s hand in the hospital after she was shot in the head. I don’t scare easily, and I don’t really care what he thinks of me.”
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“What I do care about is that he is gutting our government, illegally firing federal workers, illegally dismantling independent federal agencies, spreading conspiracies, and empowering extremists,” he added. “I’m going to defend working families and the middle class against President Trump and Elon Musk with everything I’ve got. But I can’t do it alone. So please, make a donation to my campaign to help keep up the fight.”
“And Elon: When you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship yourself, give me a call.”
