Elon Musk has claimed that two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were left stranded due to political decisions made by former President Joe Biden.

Speaking alongside Donald Trump in a joint interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Musk alleged that the delay in their return was unnecessary.

“They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good,” Musk said during the interview, which aired Tuesday night.

Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule was launched in September to retrieve the astronauts and successfully docked with the ISS, but NASA postponed their return to Earth. Musk told Hannity that the mission has been delayed “to a ridiculous degree” and now aims to bring them back in four weeks.

“At the president’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts,” Musk said, adding that SpaceX has safely returned astronauts from the ISS multiple times in the past. However, he emphasized that his team would remain “extremely cautious” during the upcoming return mission.

NASA’s Delays and Political Accusations

Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Biden’s handling of space policy, echoed Musk’s concerns, suggesting that the administration deliberately stalled the astronauts' return.

“They didn’t have the go-ahead with Biden,” Trump claimed. “He was going to leave them in space. He didn’t want the publicity.”

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled to spend just eight days on the ISS, but their stay has now extended to 258 days due to a malfunction in Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which was supposed to return them in June but was sent back to Earth empty.

In December, NASA confirmed that the astronauts would remain on the ISS until at least late March, when a new SpaceX rescue vehicle is scheduled to arrive with replacement crew members. After that, a handover period will take place before they finally return.

Astronauts Deny Feeling ‘Abandoned’

Biden’s handling of the situation has faced growing criticism, with Trump previously accusing him of “abandoning” Wilmore and Williams in space. However, the astronauts themselves have denied feeling stranded.

“We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded,” Wilmore told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, while acknowledging that others might perceive it that way.

Williams added that while their stay was longer than expected, they have “made the most of it” and continued working on ISS projects.

The interview with Musk and Trump was filmed last week at the White House and primarily focused on Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative aimed at cutting federal spending. However, the discussion about the ISS delays has now sparked a broader political debate over the Biden administration’s space policy.

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