Musk and European astronaut Andreas Mogensen exchanged barbs online after remarks Musk made during a pre-taped, joint interview with President Donald Trump that aired Tuesday on Fox News. The pair was asked about NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard the space station for the past eight months after their Boeing spacecraft encountered issues on its first crewed test flight.

“They were left up there for political reasons,” Musk said, suggesting that the Biden administration left them there longer than necessary.

Mogensen, who in 2015 became the first Danish citizen to fly in space, refuted Musk’s claim, posting: “What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”

But Musk wouldn’t let that stand.

SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago,” he wrote. “I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.”

Mogensen, who flew to and from the space station on a SpaceX rocket and capsule, responded 13 minutes later, stating he has “long admired” Musk’s accomplishments.

“You know as well as I do, that Butch and Suni are returning with Crew-9, as has been the plan since last September,” he said on X, referring to NASA’s plan to fly Wilmore and Williams back to Earth with two current space station crew members. “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 ISS since last September.”

NASA said it is “focused on safely executing our crew rotation missions and work aboard the International Space Station for the benefit of humanity and future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.”

Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who commanded the space station in 2013, then posted: “Suni and Butch have never been ‘stranded’ in space. They’re prepared and committed to the mission, like all professional astronauts. Suni’s Space Station commander, they’re doing spacewalks, working hard on behalf of NASA and all partners, having the time of their lives.”

But the statements refuting Musk don’t add up to previous reports regarding the situation during the Biden regime.

Wilmore and Williams launched to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June, with plans to spend about a week there as part of the test flight, NBC News reported.

However, the capsule faced several issues, forcing the astronauts to stay at the space station longer than expected. NASA decided to return the Starliner to Earth in September without any crew on board.

Just a week ago, DailyMail.com reported that the “stranded NASA astronauts” said they “needed to come back” in what the outlet described as a “desperate plea” to the space agency.

Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the ISS on June 5, 2024, with plans for an eight-day stay.

However, the capsule encountered issues from the moment it launched to when it docked with the ISS on June 6.