Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined the fray when unelected president Elon Musk began attacking an astronaut who dared to disagree with the Twitter/Tesla CEO.
Musk was a guest on Sean Hannity’s show recently and claimed the Biden administration left two NASA astronauts on the International Space Station for what he called “political reasons.”
Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen took issue with Musk’s claim.
“What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media,” Mogensen wrote on Twitter.
Rather than engage in an honest debate on the issue, Musk angrily lashed out, posting, “You are fully retarded. SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.”
American astronaut Scott Kelly defended Mogensen.
“I was the Commander of the @ISS when Andy, @Astro_Andreas flew his first space mission. He is one of the most competent, trustworthy, and honest people I’ve ever met. This rhetoric is beyond the pale but, sadly, not surprising. He does not deserve this kind of disrespect,” Kelly wrote.
As you’d expect, Musk couldn’t leave well enough alone, and he responded to Commander Kelly.
“Yes, he does. He is an idiot who publicly attacked me, despite having no idea what ACTUALLY happened. Btw, your brother claims to be independent, but is just a Dem donor shill,” Musk raged.
That’s when Sen. Kelly, who was an astronaut before he ran for office, laid the final smackdown on Musk.
“Hey @ElonMusk, when you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship, come talk to the three of us.”
Musk has yet to respond to Sen. Kelly, and if he has any common sense (which is doubtful), he’ll take his online lashing and keep his head down.