Musk insulted an ESA astronaut who accused him of lying.

Previously, Donald Trump and Elon Musk gave a joint interview to Fox News host Sean Hannity, where they accused the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden of having "abandoned" NASA astronauts on the International Space Station for political reasons. Following this, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen criticized Musk for lying.

“What a lie. And this is coming from someone who complains about the lack of honesty in the media,” wrote on social media platform X, two-time spaceflight participant Andreas Mogensen.

Musk did not hold back and responded to Mogensen:

“You are a complete idiot. SpaceX could have brought them back months ago. I SUGGESTED THIS to the Biden administration, but they refused. The return was DELAYED for political reasons. Idiot.”

Musk did not stop there. He stated that Mogensen was merely a “passenger” on his company's spacecraft during the Crew-7 mission, even though he served as a pilot.

The next day, former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly intervened in the verbal conflict, having actively argued with former Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin in 2022. Kelly noted that Mogensen is one of the most competent, reliable, and honest individuals and does not deserve the treatment that Musk displayed.

However, the billionaire ignored Kelly and continued to insult the astronaut, once again calling him an “idiot” and placing the blame for the altercation on him.