Elon Musk says Biden admin refused his help to bring back NASA astronauts sooner ‘for political reasons’

WASHINGTON, DC: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed to Fox News anchor Sean Hannity that he had offered to help bring back NASA astronauts stranded on the International Space Station earlier to former president Joe Biden's administration, but was turned down for political reasons.

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore returned to Earth inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Tuesday, March 18, as per NBC News. They were members of the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which was launched in June 2024, and was supposed to stay onboard the ISS for just eight days.

However, the Boeing vehicle's thrusters malfunctioned while docking to the space station. As a result, NASA decided to bring it back without any crew, extending the astronauts' stay to more than nine months.

Elon Musk's allegation against Biden administration

While interviewing Elon Musk on Tuesday, Sean Hannity asked for confirmation on whether the tech billionaire had offered the services of his company SpaceX to the Biden administration to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore earlier from the ISS.

“We definitely offered to return the astronauts earlier, there’s no question about that," Musk replied. "The astronauts were only supposed to be there for eight days and they’ve been there for ten months."

"So obviously that doesn’t make sense, SpaceX could have brought the astronauts back after a few months at most and we made that offer to the Biden administration. It was rejected for political reasons and that’s just a fact," he added.

Musk first leveled the accusation against Biden while he sat for a Fox New interview with incumbent Donald Trump in February, also conducted by Hannity, reported the New York Post.

“They (the astronauts) were left up there for political reasons, which is not good,” Musk said at the time, adding that his company was "accelerating the return of the astronauts" at the request of Trump.

“We have brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success,” he shared, noting that the team would still be "extremely cautious."

Trump said in the same interview, “They didn’t have the go-ahead with Biden."

“He was going to leave them in space. I think he was going to leave them in space … He didn’t want the publicity," the POTUS added.

Internet joins Elon Musk in slamming Joe Biden

Netizens reacting to Elon Musk's claim during his recent interview with Sean Hannity, slammed former president Joe Biden on the social media platform X. The following tweets demonstrate their takes.

"Elon is a HERO and Biden is a ZERO!" mocked a user.

"Politicizing this and putting lives on the line. Disgusting," wrote another.

"The astronauts should sue the Biden admin and hold them accountable," shared one.

"It’s not just shameful, it’s evil," chided another.

"Rejecting such an offer shows how heartless Biden is," stated an individual.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.