Former astronaut Clayton Anderson credited President Donald Trump's entire administration when asked by a CNN host whether the president "deserves any credit."
The Artemis II astronauts completed their lunar mission late Monday, traveling deeper into space than any humans in history and revealing views of the far side of the Moon never seen before. Trump congratulated the crew as they continued their spaceflight, telling them, "Your mission paves the way for America's return to the lunar surface very soon."
Anderson, who spent 167 days living and working in space on the International Space Station, spoke to Abby Phillip about how he felt about this latest accomplishment.
"I think it's great for them," he said. "I'm very envious. I would love to be with them in that tiny little capsule, being so close to the moon," he said. "But it's very important, and I agree with what Miles [O'Brien] said, that we got to be the best. We've got to be the leaders in space exploration. And so I love the fact that we finally have committed after 54 years to begin this journey again."
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Phillip then pressed him for his thoughts on a recent statement from the president, asking the astronaut, "In your view, Clayton, does President Trump deserve credit for - he said today that he was given a choice to shut NASA down or keep it going. Do you think he deserves any credit for keeping it going?"
Anderson suggested the entire administration deserved credit, arguing that politicizing this accomplishment is missing the point.
"Well, I think the entire administration deserves credit, all the people that are involved picking [NASA Administrator] Mr. Isaacman," he said. "The politics of it to me is - is kind of fluff. I think that the key thing is, is that we're doing it and that takes the efforts of a lot of different people."
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He continued, noting, "It takes appropriate budget money, as we all know. We hope that the budget money will continue to be there because it will be required for us to get to Artemis III and then Artemis IV. So, you know, everybody's taking credit."
"I'm taking credit by being on your show and saying, 'Hey, I was an astronaut for a while. You know, I lived on the space station. Give me some credit!'" Anderson said. "So, you know - so it's, it's kind of a - it's a humanitarian success."
The exchange was first noted by NewsBusters.
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Phillip agreed, saying that after having spent 167 days in space, Anderson indeed deserved to "get all the credit," and thanked him for his service.
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