Fact checking gone mad: Democrats tell Trump ‘the Moon is not part of Mars’
President Donald Trump announced that he wants America to explore Mars as part of the next Moon mission. The Democratic party showed its dedication to nitpicking by reminding Trump the Moon is “not part of Mars.”
“For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science,” Trump tweeted on Friday.
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2019
Coming from a background in real estate and casinos, Trump is obviously not an astronomer. Still, the president couldn’t have possibly assumed that the Moon and Mars were somehow the same. Nevertheless, the Democratic National Committee fired up the snark machine and let loose an official statement at Trump: “The moon is not part of Mars.”
OFFICIAL DNC STATEMENT:The moon is not part of Mars.
— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) June 7, 2019
A parade of liberal journalists and commentators groaned along, the context sailing over their heads and into the stratosphere.
The moon is a part of Mars, so sayeth the Leader. Well, when the President says it, that means it is true. The moon really IS a part of Mars, says this loyal citizen. https://t.co/6fZKSJoe70
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 7, 2019
WHENNNNNNTHEEEEEEEEEEEMOON HITS YOUR EYELIKE A BIG PIZZA PIETHAT'S part of mars.
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) June 7, 2019
So this week Trump continued his feud with a dead man, picked a new one with Bette Midler, attacked a royal family member, said Ireland should build a wall on its border with N. Ireland, that he didn't serve in Vietnam b/c it was far away, & the moon was part of Mars. Cool cool.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) June 7, 2019
Moon. Part of Mars.Sure. OK. Yeah. "Alexa, order an extra-dimensional portal so I can escape this madness"
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 7, 2019
Joking aside, Trump’s statement was almost certainly referring to the president’s belief that any mission to the moon should be undertaken as part of a bigger push to Mars. In fact, just one month earlier, Trump set out his vision with his trademark modesty, promising to “return to Space in a BIG WAY!”
Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
Friday’s tweet too came within minutes of NASA’s Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWit telling Fox News that after establishing a “sustainable presence” on the Moon, “we will, in the 2030s, be going to Mars.”
Trump's weird moon/Mars tweet appears to be inspired by this Fox Business segment, which aired about hour ahead of his tweet. (ht @MattGertz)"I understand [the moon] would be a launching point for other initiatives going further out, but I thought we would advance beyond that." pic.twitter.com/uIaTur2KRG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 7, 2019
To that end, Trump proposed a $1.6 billion bump in NASA’s 2020 budget last month, to go towards putting humans back on the Moon in 2024. The space agency currently has a yearly budget of $21.5 billion, or 0.49 percent of the entire US budget. At the height of the space race against the Soviet Union in 1966, NASA consumed 4.41 percent of the US budget.
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