Astronaut Mark Kelly Calls Trump Out for Airline Safety Claims

"If you're going to take credit for zero airline deaths in 2017 then you should take responsibility for the tens of thousands of gun deaths, too."

January 3, 2018

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 05: Astronaut Mark Kelly speaks onstage during MTV's 2017 College Signing Day With Michelle Obama at The Public Theater on May 5, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV)
Image via Mike Coppola/MTV/Getty

A real-life American hero has put Donald Trump in check.

On Tuesday morning, POTUS went to Twitter in an attempt to take credit for the lack of commercial airline deaths in 2017. No, really. Here’s the tweet:

The suggestion that Trump was the reason none of your flights ended in a deadly catastrophe is as stupid as it is funny. Which is why NASA astronaut Mark Kelly couldn’t help but call the president out on his delusional tweet.

“Actually, it's USDOT, FAANews, & NASA—and especially the airlines—who deserve credit for this," Kelly responded on Twitter. “But, if you're going to take credit for zero airline deaths in 2017 then you should take responsibility for the tens of thousands of gun deaths, too.”

He has a good point.

Kelly has become a prominent advocate for tightening gun control laws since his wife, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, sustained critical injuries in a 2011 shooting that left six people dead.

“We, you, must demand leadership. We need a president who recognizes that we have a gun violence problem, and will work toward solutions. Americans need more than our president's prayers. We need his plans,” Kelly said at a press conference following the 2017 Las Vegas massacre. “[…] I'm a gun owner, Gabby's a gun owner. I'm a supporter of the Second Amendment. However, we can respect the Second Amendment and the rights of responsible gun owners, and at the same time, we can keep guns out of the hands of criminals, domestic abusers, potential mass shooters, and idiots.”

As pointed out by the Daily Dot, a nonprofit organization called the Gun Violence Archive has collected data that indicates there were over 15,000 U.S. gun-related deaths in 2017. Twitter users also noted that there haven’t been any commercial airline deaths in the country since 2009, when 50 people died in a crash near Buffalo, New York. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight coming from Seoul crashed at San Francisco International Airport. Two died and dozens were injured.

Once again: Good work, internet.