Pete Hegseth mocked for X spats with Mark Kelly as Dan Driscoll gets 'big boy' Ukraine assignment

WASHINGTON, DC: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing a wave of mockery and criticism after launching an aggressive online attack against Sen Mark Kelly all while his own deputy, Army secretary Daniel Driscoll, negotiates a potential end to the Russia-Ukraine war overseas.

The backlash erupted across social media and veteran communities, who questioned Hegseth’s priorities as a historic diplomatic effort unfolded without him.

Pete Hegseth singles out Mark Kelly over uniform and ‘sedition’ video

The controversy began after Mark Kelly posted online defending a video in which he and five other Democratic lawmakers urged service members to refuse “illegal orders.”

 President Donald Trump later claimed the video amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.”

Hegseth responded by publicly berating Kelly, a retired Navy captain and decorated combat veteran.

“So ‘Captain’ Kelly, not only did your sedition video intentionally undercut good order & discipline… but you can’t even display your uniform correctly,” Hegseth wrote.

“Your medals are out of order & rows reversed. When/if you are recalled to active duty, it’ll start with a uniform inspection.”

Democratic US Senate candidate Mark Kelly speaks to supporters during the election night event in Tucson (Getty Images)

Dan Driscoll, not Pete Hegseth, at the Ukraine table

While some users acknowledged Hegseth was technically correct about the misplaced medals, many argued that the secretary of defense attacking a veteran-turned-senator over uniform aesthetics, during a global crisis, signaled skewed priorities.

One user on X commented, "The key to understanding these dumb tweets is Army Secretary (and close @JDVance ally)  Dan Driscoll was tapped to help lead the Ukraine "peace deal" negotiations, while a cucked @PeteHegseth rage tweets from the Pentagon. Sorry you're at the kid's table, Pete :("

Another said, "The fact that it is Driscoll, the US army secretary, who is doing the Ukraine talks - and not Pete Hegseth, his nominal boss - says a lot about who is up and who is down within the Trump admin."

Another added, "Hegseth reduced to partisan Twitter spats as his deputy gets the big boy assignment of negotiating with the Russian," while a fourth added, "Trump finally has to turn to someone at the Pentagon who know what he’s doing—and Hegseth should read the handwriting on the wall."

Another user commented, "Split Screen: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was picked by Trump to negotiate with the Ukrainians and Russians this week, while the Defense Secretary is home threatening a US Senator with a uniform inspection", while an angry user questioned him saying, "What the hell do you have, Hegseth? From what I can see you have more tattoos than medals. And those tattoos got you kicked out of the military from extremism. So much for your distinguished career."

'There’s not a lot of trust in Pete Hegseth'

As Hegseth sparred online, Army Secretary Driscoll was in Abu Dhabi, meeting with Russian officials for hours in a renewed attempt to end the nearly four-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

For the past two weeks, Driscoll has served as the Trump administration’s primary envoy in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

According to Politico, Trump personally elevated Driscoll to the role after senior figures in the administration cast doubt on Hegseth’s reliability.

“There’s not a lot of trust in Hegseth to deliver these messages to key leaders,” a source familiar with internal discussions told Politico. “There is more trust in Dan to do that right now.”

The contrast between Hegseth’s social media feud and Driscoll’s high-stakes diplomatic mission became a focal point for critics, who argued that the secretary of defense appeared more invested in policing Kelly’s uniform than in helping resolve one of the world’s deadliest conflicts.

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