Trump honors Artemis II astronauts with Medal of Honor
Fox - Seattle / VideoElephant
US president Donald Trump received an astronomically awkward response to his speech at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas on Friday (pun very much intended), as Nasa scientists in attendance had a very muted reaction to the 80-year-old rambling about his scientist uncle and Artemis II, and once again criticising Barack Obama’s presidency.
The Republican was at the space center to award the congressional space medal of honour to all four Artemis II crew members – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – who became the first humans to leave low Earth orbit since Richard Nixon’s administration when they carried out a lunar flyby in April.
At one point in his speech, for which he arrived half an hour late, Trump referred to the Nasa employees standing behind him and said: “I looked at them coming before I came up and said, ‘that’s a good looking group of people’. I don’t like speaking to those people behind me, to be honest - they look too good, but they’re great people.”
And as he said all of this, those behind him could be seen giving almost no reaction whatsoever.
And X/Twitter users noticed, with political commentator Jamie Bonkiewicz writing: “Shoutout to these astronauts for the masterclass in keeping a straight face while listening to an unqualified president who has no f***ing idea what he’s talking about”:
“See what happens when he speaks to an audience with an average IQ in the triple digits,” tweeted Covie:
Mavsmarie commented: “Because these are some of the smartest people in the world and they see right through his bulls***”:
Retired navy captain M. J. Singleton replied: “Because those people are some of the best and brightest people in the country. I am sure it’s difficult to follow a person who is uninteresting, idiotic, unintelligible and stupid speaker even if it’s the president."
And US veteran John Jackson said: “This is what a smart branch of the government does, knowing they are supposed to be apolitical, and also that future funding in a Democratic administration could be compromised”:
“This is how his speeches in front of the military should be reacted to, as well. Glad to see that NASA is still full of professionals who take their paths seriously,” one account replied:
And another account said: “Their training in holding their breath is coming in handy”:
Awkward.
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