‘Idiot, Fully Retarded’: Musk Gets Into Verbal Spat With Astronaut Over Sunita Williams’ Space Return

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was given the responsibility by US President Donald Trump to bring back the stranded astronauts , has made headlines again for a feud with a NASA astronaut on Thursday.

In a spat on X with Danish astronaut Andreas “Andy” Mogensen, Musk called him an “idiot” and “fully retarded.”

Mogensen, the former commander of the International Space Station (ISS), criticized Musk for “lying” and falsely claiming that stranded NASA astronauts had been abandoned in space by former U.S. President Joe Biden .

Mogensen, who has spent nearly 300 days aboard the ISS, denied Musk’s claims that the astronauts were left behind for “political reasons.”

The NASA astronaut shared a clip from an interview featuring Trump and his DOGE Chief, dismissing Musk’s statement. He wrote, “What a lie. And from someone who complains about a lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”

Responding on X, Musk hit back at the former ISS commander, saying, “You are fully retarded. SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration, and they refused. The return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.”

The 48-year-old astronaut countered Musk’s claims, accusing him of spreading misinformation.

“Elon, I have long admired you and what you have accomplished, especially at SpaceX and Tesla. You know as well as I do that Butch and Suni are returning with Crew-9, as has been the plan since last September. Even now, you are not sending up a rescue ship to bring them home. They are returning on the Dragon capsule that has been on the ISS since last September,” Mogensen wrote in his tweet.

In an interview, Trump asked Musk when the astronauts would return. The SpaceX CEO responded, “I think it’s about four weeks to bring them back.”

Trump also accused Biden of “leaving them [astronauts] in space” because he “didn’t want the publicity.”

He also had earlier accused Biden of abandoning the two astronauts in space. Last month, Trump said he had given Musk the responsibility to bring the astronauts back home as soon as possible.