{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-kelly-defends-free-press-calls-out-administration-for-prioritizing-appearances-over-truth/", "WATCH:\u00a0Kelly\u00a0Defends\u00a0Free\u00a0Press, Calls Out\u00a0Administration for\u00a0Prioritizing Appearances Over Truth", "2026-09-21", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "AZ", "Mark Kelly", "K000377", "www.kelly.senate.gov", "markkelly", "https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cThis President and the Secretary of Defense, they clearly do not like accountability. They don\u2019t like criticism. They don\u2019t want the American people to even have the facts. This is how democracies die.\u201d\n\nIn case you missed it, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly joined MS NOW\u2019s Deadline: White House to defend the essential role of the press in American democracy after President Trump targeted news organizations for coverage he didn\u2019t like. Kelly urged journalists to keep holding the government accountable no matter the circumstances.\n\nKelly also called out the administration over reports that more servicemembers have died amid the war with Iran than previously disclosed.\n\nSen. Kelly talks to Nicolle Wallace on Deadline: White House.\n\nWatch the full conversation here. See key excerpts below:\n\nOn theservicememberswho havegiven their livesamid Trump\u2019s war in Iran\u2026\n\n\u201cReal leaders, great leaders, are not worried about sharing bad news. Leadership means you want to be transparent with the people you are leading. And this president and the Secretary of Defense, they clearly do not like accountability. They don\u2019t like criticism. They don\u2019t want the American people to even have the facts. This is how democracies die. I feel so awful for the family members who are losing loved ones in this war. Parents, brothers and sisters and children, that it was unnecessary.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course he doesn\u2019t care. He\u2019s called dead marines \u2018suckers and losers.\u2019 People who paid the ultimate price, who fought for this country in our time of need. \u2018Suckers and losers.\u2019 I care. I care about all of our servicemembers. I served in the United States Navy for 25 years. Every member of our military who are willing to put their lives on the line deserve to have a Commander-in-Chief that cares about them, that has the ability to make good decisions, that knows when it is worth it to put their lives on the line for our national security, and when it just doesn\u2019t make sense. And this time, with this war in Iran, there was no reason he had to do this.\u201d\n\nOnHegseth gutting military leadership\u2026\n\n\u201cPete Hegseth is in charge, and that\u2019s why this has been such a disaster. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve lost a portion of a generation of leadership within the military. He fires people that he thinks are not sufficiently loyal to him and the President. He fires women because of their gender. He fires Black admirals and generals because of the color of their skin.\n\n\u201cHe cares about appearances\u2026 He doesn\u2019t want people to know how many service members are dying, paying the ultimate price, defending our nation. For them, it is all about\u2014this is all a show. That\u2019s what happens when the country elects a guy who is a reality TV show star\u2026 they think of this as a production.\u201d\n\nOn his message to the press to keep holding this administration accountable\u2026\n\n\u201cI hope you double down, you and CNN and POLITICO and other news organizations on the accountability part of your job\u2014keeping any government, this one, the one before it, regardless of who is in the White House. Your job is to inform the American people and I know that just got a lot harder for you, but I hope under these adverse circumstances that you\u2019re in, you will figure out ways to report to your viewers what is happening inside this government. These are challenging times, but like my wife says, we are up to the challenge.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-22T09:42:49Z", "2026-09-22T09:44:35Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/watch-kelly-defends-free-press-calls-out-administration-for-prioritizing-appearances-over-truth/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6791199557483196, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}