Two NASA astronauts will likely be stranded in space until early next year, and many are placing the blame on one individual’s shoulders — Vice President and 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
On June 5, astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams traveled to the International Space Station via Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The two were expected to return on June 14, but helium leaks and a thruster issue have kept the Starliner stranded, per ABC News.
The two may have to wait until early 2025 to return to Earth. According to Fox News’s Lucas Tomlinson, NASA scrapped a dodgy mission that would have returned the astronauts home sooner.
Instead, the government has been forced to turn to the private sector; more specifically, they’ve turned to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which will return Wilmore and Williams home early next year via a much safer route than NASA’s scrapped plan.
Given the disaster this situation is for NASA, many have asked the obvious question: Who is in charge?
Who is highest up in the government leadership overseeing the security of NASA operations?
The answer: Vice President Harris.
This is what happens when you put Kamala in charge of the National Space Council https://t.co/Od1dBsrbQY
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 26, 2024
Is this Harris’s fault?
Yes: 100% (4 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
“This is what happens when you put Kamala in charge of the National Space Council,” the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro said in response to news of the stranding.
According to CNN, Harris took on the role of National Space Council chair in 2021.
According to the White House, the National Space Council is responsible for coordinating “the nation’s civil, commercial, and national security space activities to advance the broader priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration.”
Among her personal priorities were introducing diversity standards into the workforce, per CNN. By doing so, Harris aimed to “put her own personal stamp on the Council.”
Shapiro and other critics argue that Harris did in fact leave her own personal stamp, albeit not in the positive way that she had hoped.
Another scathing critique placing the blame for this failure at Harris’s feet came from the New York Post’s editorial board on Aug. 15.
What’s more, the Post argued that Harris now has an incentive to leave the astronauts stranded until after Election Day.
“Rotten luck for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams: Not only have a series of poor decisions by NASA and Boeing leadership got them stuck in space, but now they’re being held hostage by Kamala Harris’ political ambitions,” the Post wrote.
“That’s right: The vice president chairs the National Space Council, which is supposed to give NASA its direction — which means she already shares blame for this mess, and is best served by just letting the ‘castaways’ rot until after Election Day.”
“One thing is clear. Even if NASA comes up with some other answer, those astronauts won’t come home before November. Because Harris chairs the National Space Council: The buck stops with her, but she has an election to win.”
