Following those ‘traitor’ comments, Senator Mark Kelly hits back at ’12-year-old’ Elon Musk

Billionaire Elon Musk and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly have traded barbs, following the latter’s recent trip to Ukraine.  For context, the Arizona Senator shared images of his visit to Ukraine in a thread on X, amid the Trump administration’s seeming pushback against the war torn country and its President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“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,” Kelly wrote in the caption of the photos, referencing the growing sentiment that Trump is sympathizing with Russia amid the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Just left Ukraine. 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. Let me tell you about my trip and why it’s important we stand with Ukraine.🧵 pic.twitter.com/6kOw1tTgS6

— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) March 9, 2025

In reply to Kelly’s X post, Musk branded him “a traitor,” even though the U.S. and Ukraine have (at least before Trump’s second term) long maintained cordial and strategic relations. Despite that, Musk’s disapproval of Kelly’s trip to Ukraine is perhaps unsurprising, since the billionaire and DOGE leader has echoed Trump’s criticisms of Zelenskyy in the past. Last week, he joined the administration’s Zelenskyy pile-on by labeling the president as “cruel and inhumane” for his supposed refusal to “seek peace” with Russia — an anti-Ukraine sentiment that he reiterated with his message to Kelly. 

Traitor?

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. pic.twitter.com/9dgmQfg7HZ

— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) March 10, 2025

Refusing to take the criticism lying down, Kelly responded to Musk’s message by declaring on X that the billionaire doesn’t “understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great,” but his reaction didn’t stop there. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill the day after his Ukrainian visit — which marked his third trip to the country overall — Kelly said Musk is “not a serious guy” and “should go back to building rockets.” He went on to accuse Musk, as the leader of DOGE, of having “slashed and burned the federal government to make room for a giant tax cut for billionaires.”

What I said over 2 years ago was that Ukraine should seek peace or suffer severe loss of life for no gains.

The latter was Zelensky’s choice.

Now, he wants to do that again.

This is cruel and inhumane. https://t.co/44DZhnH98s

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2025

In the same statements, Kelly described Musk as a “12-year-old” and said he doesn’t “take [Musk’s comments] seriously.” Unsurprisingly, since the billionaire seems to have it out for everyone who isn’t himself or Trump, this is not the first time Musk and Kelly have engaged in a tit-for-tat. Last month, Musk took to X to label Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen “an idiot” for rejecting Trump’s suggestion that former President Joe Biden didn’t do enough to rescue stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station.

Kelly, a retired astronaut who has actually been to space, pushed back against Musk’s attack on Mogensen, while invoking his brother and fellow astronaut, Scott Kelly. “Hey @ElonMusk, when you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship, come talk to the three of us,” Kelly quipped. Thankfully, Kelly has received support in this feud by Republican Representative Don Bacon, who told CNN “it’s not right” to brand someone a traitor. Bacon admitted that while he does not “agree with Senator Kelly on some things,” Musk’s comments ultimately “reflect bad[ly] on the White House.” 

Hey @ElonMusk, when you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship, come talk to the three of us. https://t.co/9BOL1FQOZp

— Captain Mark Kelly (@CaptMarkKelly) February 21, 2025

Kelly isn’t the only Democrat to become the subject of Musk’s public criticisms. Last week, the billionaire took aim at Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, calling them “puppets” in response to their similar statements about DOGE. Who’s next on the chopping block for Musk is anyone’s guess.