Recently, NPR shamed President Donald Trump for pledging to rescue two stranded astronauts on the International Space Station because, according to them and despite months of their own reporting to the contrary, they are not stranded. On Friday CBS Evening News host John Dickerson became the latest media personality to do the same thing.
During an interview with Sunita Williams, one of the astronauts in question, Dickerson asked, “Last week, President Trump said you and Butch Wilmore, who's your Starliner crewmate, had been virtually abandoned. Do you feel abandoned up there, commander?”
Trump was clearly talking about abandonment in the physical sense, but Williams, not wanting to throw her NASA colleagues under the bus on national TV or ignore other astronauts currently on the International Space Station, used the word in the more emotional or communicative sense, “No, I don't think those words are quite accurate. You know, we’re part of something bigger than ourselves. We are part of the International Space Station. So no, we don't feel abandoned. We feel like we are part of the team, and that is a huge honor.”
The mission was supposed to last eight days but is now in its eighth month. Nevertheless, Dickerson asked, “So to think of you as being stuck up there or abandoned, does that basically misunderstand the role of an astronaut?”
Over the past several months, there have been multiple CBS stories that used the words “stuck” or “stranded” to describe Williams and Wilmore.
For her part, Williams was again more diplomatic as she played up the idea it's all part of the job, “I would say that's absolutely true. You know, I don't think I'm abandoned. I don't think we are stuck up here. We've got food, we got clothes. We have a ride home in case anything really bad does happen to the International Space Station.”
While Williams can be commended for her ability to adapt in the face of adversity and put a happy face on the situation, there is no reason why Dickerson and CBS need to change their tune on how they described her and Wilmore just because Trump commented on it.
Here is a transcript for the February 7 show:
CBS Evening News
2/7/2025
6:44 PM ET
JOHN DICKERSON: Last week, President Trump said you and Butch Wilmore, who's your Starliner crewmate, had been virtually abandoned. Do you feel abandoned up there, commander?
SUNITA WILLIAMS: No, I don't think those words are quite accurate. You know, we’re part of something bigger than ourselves. We are part of the International Space Station. So no, we don't feel abandoned. We feel like we are part of the team, and that is a huge honor.
DICKERSON: So to think of you as being stuck up there or abandoned, does that basically misunderstand the role of an astronaut?
WILLIAMS: I would say that's absolutely true. You know, I don't think I'm abandoned. I don't think we are stuck up here. We've got food, we got clothes. We have a ride home in case anything really bad does happen to the International Space Station.
