SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has revealed the ‘political reasons’ which he says drove the Biden administration to ‘abandon’ two NASA astronauts in space.
During a Friday appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said Biden rejected his offer to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home early because it would’ve made Donald Trump ‘look good.’
Musk backed Trump during the 2024 campaign and appeared at several rallies MAGA rallies.
The tech CEO explained to Rogan that the Biden administration did not want to jeopardize Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and intentionally ‘pushed the return date past the inauguration date.’
‘There’s no way that they’re gonna make anyone who’s supporting Trump look good,’ he said.
Musk’s remarks shocked Rogan. ‘That’s so crazy… It’s just disgusting that they would use that as a political tool,’ he said.
Musk also noted that the Biden administration was suing SpaceX at the time.
‘So people say, like, ‘Oh, Elon’s making it up. The Biden administration wasn’t against SpaceX,’ he said.
‘I’m like, bro, the Department of Justice had a massive lawsuit against SpaceX for not hiring asylum seekers, even though it is illegal for us to hire anyone who is not a permanent resident.’
During a Friday appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Elon Musk said the Biden administration rejected his offer to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home early because they did not want to ‘make anyone who’s supporting Trump look good’
The DOJ filed that lawsuit in August 2023, alleging that SpaceX was ‘discriminating against asylees and refugees in hiring.’
But less than two weeks ago, the DOJ dismissed the case, though the motion did not say why.
Musk told Rogan that although US law prohibits hiring discrimination against asylum seekers, it also prohibits SpaceX from hiring non-permanent US residents because rocket companies are technically advanced weapons companies.
International Traffic in Arms Regulations require advanced weapons companies to only hire permanent residents, a.k.a. people with citizenship or green cards, Musk said.
‘An asylum seeker is not a permanent resident. So it is both legal and illegal to hire asylum seekers,’ he told Rogan.
‘Why would [the Biden administration] launch such a massive lawsuit against SpaceX? They’re extremely antagonistic.’
These statements come just weeks after the joint Fox News Interview with Trump, when Musk first alleged that politics influenced NASA’s decision to delay Williams and Wilmore’s return.
Williams and Wilmore were only supposed to spend eight days on the International Space Station (ISS) when they arrived on June 6.
But technical issues with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft prompted NASA to significantly delay their flight home, as the faulty spaceship could not guarantee their safe return.
Joe Rogan was shocked by Musk’s claims: ‘That’s so crazy’
When the agency officially announced its decision last August, then-NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: ‘I can tell you unequivocally, from a personal standpoint, that politics has not played any part in this decision.
‘It absolutely has nothing to do with it.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to NASA for comment on Musk’s latest claims.
Williams and Wilmore weighed in on the matter during a recent interview with Good Morning America.
When asked about Musk’s remarks, Wilmore said: ‘Political reasons — I have not heard that. I’m not sure that that could be the case based on what I know.’
He also explained that he and Williams do not view themselves as ‘stranded,’ saying: ‘That’s not how we feel.’
The Starliner crew is now due back around March 19 or 20, when they will hitch a ride home on the SpaceX Crew-9 return flight.
By then, they will have spent more than nine months in space.
Musk told Rogan that only a SpaceX spacecraft can bring the astronauts back to Earth.
‘There isn’t anyone else who can do it,’ he said. ‘The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is the only one that is considered safe enough to bring them back.’
