Newsmax’s Greg Kelly fired off a furious response to Pete Hegseth after the defense secretary announced his decision to lift the suspensions issued to the U.S. Army pilots who flew past Kid Rock’s home.
Rock posted a video on Saturday of two AH-64 Apache helicopters flying past his Nashville home. This prompted the army to launch an investigation into the incident, which resulted in the suspension of the pilots involved.
“This incident is now under an Army Regulation 15-6 administrative investigation,” an Army spokesperson told the Daily Beast on Tuesday. “The personnel involved have been suspended from flight duties while the Army reviews the circumstances surrounding the mission, including compliance with relevant FAA regulations, aviation safety protocol, and approval requirements.”
Hours later, however, Hegseth announced on X that the suspensions had been lifted, and cheered on the pilots involved in the stunt.
“Thank you @KidRock,” Hegseth wrote. “@USArmy pilots suspension LIFTED. No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots.”
An incensed Kelly unloaded on Hegseth in a fiery X post, criticizing the way he runs the Pentagon and insisting that the pilots be disciplined.
“So what if those ‘fly boys’ flew by Madonna’s house and Took a Bow?” Kelly wrote. “Or Robert De Niro. That would not be cool, right? But it’s just fine for Kid Rockhead? What an amateur move, posting it on Social Media.”
Kelly, who hosts Greg Kelly Reports on Newsmax and served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a jump jet pilot for nine years, continued, taking aim at Hegseth himself.
“Meanwhile HEGSETH runs the Pentagon like he ran his phony ‘non-profits’—RECKLESSLY,” Kelly added.
“He has No business Micro-Managing Army Units. They MUST Discipline Hot Dog Pilots performing Unauthorized Stunts. Because Next Time something could go Very Very Bad.”
Kelly also discussed the stunt on the Tuesday evening edition of his program, describing it as “kind of cool” before noting that it would typically be the kind of incident where “you get in trouble for this stuff.”
He added that the “crowd wants people to say this is great, but sometimes the commander, the responsible officer, literally the responsible officer has to make unpopular decisions with the troops and with the people.”
“Leadership, it can be lonely, and I don’t think a lot of people who are shooting their mouths off right now know enough about it,” Kelly said.
When contacted by the Daily Beast for comment on Kelly’s remarks, a spokesperson for the Pentagon said, “We have nothing for you beyond Sec. Hegseth’s announcement.”
Speaking to Nashville’s WKRN News 2, Rock described the visit as “a level of respect that I got that no award or record sales could ever do.”
“At the end of the day, if it makes their day a little brighter, for their service to our country and protecting us, I think that’s a great thing.”
“At the end of the day,” Rock continued, “I thought it was harmless. I thought it was really cool. I was very appreciative of them coming by.”
Rock, a vocal ally of the president, also dismissed critics of the stunt as suffering from ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ a common epithet used by the president’s supporters to smear his critics.
“We know the half of the country that’s going to love it and say, ‘That’s really cool, that’s great for the military,’ and the other half that’s going to go, ‘They’re wasting taxpayers’ money, this, that and the other.’”
He ended with a message for all service members, telling WKRN News 2, “Thank you for your service, and keep on Kid Rockin’ in the free world.”
