Since Kamala Harris recently clinched the official Democratic presidential nomination, Americans have been on the edge of their seats waiting to see who her running-mate pick would be. The news was finally announced yesterday, with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz emerging victorious in what CNN dubbed “the most accelerated vice-presidential search in modern history”. Before that, the shortlist consisted of Walz, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Mark Kelly.
The search had sparked renewed interest in astronaut, navy pilot and Arizona senator Kelly ...
as well as his daughter, and old posts involving drugs that have come back to haunt him. Here is what you need to know. Who is Mark Kelly? {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Senator Mark Kelly was on the shortlist to be Kamala Harris’ running-mate in the 2024 US presidential election. Photo: Getty Images","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/07/92021682-e5ea-49ac-a597-9be99d8e3b58_4d0a4ab9.jpg"} Senator Mark Kelly was on the shortlist to be Kamala Harris’ running-mate in the 2024 US presidential election. Photo: Getty Images Per The Guardian, Kelly, 60, became a senator in Arizona in 2020 after beating Republican Martha McSally in a special election.
A former US navy pilot who was sent on several deployments, Kelly is mostly known for being an astronaut who went on four missions to space. In his profile on Space.com, it was reported that Kelly retired from Nasa in 2011, with his career highlight being commander of space shuttle Endeavour in its final mission.
Mark and Claire’s mum Amelia Babis divorced in 2004, and Mark remarried Gabby Giffords, a well-known politician and gun control activist. Why is his daughter Claire Kelly in the spotlight? Mark and his daughter Claire made headlines after older social media posts involving drugs were recently unearthed. Per Radar Online, in 2020, Claire posted a video that seemed to show bags of ecstasy and marijuana on her Instagram account with the caption, “P***y Molly Weed” – “molly” and “weed” being colloquial terms for the respective substances.
Per the site, she later shared a message from her dad, where he said he had received messages about her post: “I’m not interested in looking, but I suspect what you posted would not be in anyone’s best interest. At least not yours or mine.” In the conversation shared by Claire, she assured her dad her “Instagram is fine.
Check for yourself.” {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Senator Mark Kelly (far right) and daughter Claire Kelly (second from left) made headlines for her social media posts in 2020.
Photo: @CaptMarkKelly/X","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/07/853b7a0d-abb1-4716-ad22-56c47f0098bb_8f53a9eb.
jpg"} Senator Mark Kelly (far right) and daughter Claire Kelly (second from left) made headlines for her social media posts in 2020. Photo: @CaptMarkKelly/X The old drug post and purported conversation between Mark and his daughter has been widely shared on social media, mostly by MAGA supporters, per Radar Online. Ecstasy is classed as a dangerous drug in Arizona and possession and use would be charged as a felony.
At the time of writing, neither Mark or Claire had responded to the old posts being republished. Social media accounts linked to Claire were also reportedly deleted. What else do we know about Claire Kelly? {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Claire Kelly, seen here with dad Mark Kelly, has taken down her social media accounts. Photo: @CaptMarkKelly/X","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/07/ca51cbf7-dc77-425a-9342-bef7459c3d89_5e8d6a98.jpg"} Claire Kelly, seen here with dad Mark Kelly, has taken down her social media accounts. Photo: @CaptMarkKelly/X Claire had reportedly graduated from Arizona State University at the time the social media posts were initially shared.
The 27-year-old now lives in Queens, New York, where her company, Rise and Shine Social, focuses on social media and marketing. According to her bio on the company website, Claire wants to “leverage the power of social media to make a positive impact by developing compelling and meaningful content”. Old alleged social media posts and conversations between Mark and his daughter were widely shared on social media recently – mostly by Donald Trump supporters The former Nasa astronaut and navy pilot made headlines as Harris’ potential vice-president pick as she stepped in after Joe Biden’s exit – but the honour just went to Tim Walz.
