President Donald Trump was met with silence from a group of NASA scientist who had gathered to hear him speak at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center only for Trump to launch into grievances about former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Trump was at the facility to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, the crew members of Artemis II who formed the first mission to bring astronauts toward the Moon in over half a century.
But of course Trump couldn't just focus on honoring those in attendance and celebrating NASA's historic achievement, and chose to lash out at his two favorite presidential targets instead.
He said:
"The United States lost its ability to send our astronauts to the moon, but under the B — under a number of administrations, I have to tell you, but in particular the Obama administration, we even lost our ability to send astronauts into orbit at all."
NASA team members did not react to his remark, as you can see in the video below.
Trump was swiftly called out.
Earlier this year, Trump made headlines after bragging that he could've joined the Artemis II mission, saying he is "physically very, very good"—which is a laugh considering the requirements one must meet to become an astronaut.
NASA’s astronaut requirements are rigorous: applicants must be U.S. citizens, hold an advanced STEM degree (or equivalent doctoral, medical, or test pilot training), have significant professional or flight experience, and pass a demanding long-duration astronaut physical.
Trump, who turned 80 in June, has none of this experience, has been besotted with health problems, and is notorious for eating tons of fast food and never exercising. The White House physician has even been accused of lying about the state of Trump's physical and cognitive decline.
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