Another one of Ben Shapiro’s random digs at queer people has spectacularly backfired. When Shapiro decided to rant about the mechanics of space flight and lesbians—two things he knows nothing about—he was roundly mocked online, including by space dad Luke Skywalker himself.

During a recent episode of his podcast, The Ben Shapiro Show, the right-wing pundit landed on the topic of the delayed Artemis I launch. Artemis I’s mission to the moon had to be rescheduled due to a malfunction in one of the rocket engines and inclement weather

Deciding that he knows better than NASA, Shapiro dismissed this explanation and blamed President Biden, wokeness, and hypothetical lesbians. In a viral clip shared by Jason Campbell, a senior researcher for Media Matters, Shapiro speculates that Biden’s so-called “equity agenda” has resulted in nominally-appointed lesbian astronauts who mishandled the launch.

“The really important thing is that, when we do go to the moon, we have to have a lesbian on the moon. Lesbians on the moon! This is what we need,” he mocked. “It sounds like a bad pornography.”

“I don’t know why that’s the key to space exploration,” Shapiro went on. “I thought it would be, you know, the most qualified people that we ought to send to space.”

Shapiro’s lack of research on the subject (shockingly uncharacteristic of him) was clear to anyone with eyes and access to Google. The Artemis I shuttle to the moon is an unmanned test flight (instead of lesbian astronauts, it will contain mannequin pilots and mementos like Girl Scout badges, LEGOs, and Snoopy). More importantly, lesbians have already been to the moon. Dr. Sally Ride, who became the first woman in space in 1983, was both a lesbian and thoroughly qualified.

Just another day of queer folks getting blamed for literally anything gone wrong. But on the bright side, the awful take made for some good laughs on Twitter.

Imaginary incompetent lesbians aside, the Artemis I launch will proceed on Saturday, September 3. “We will learn a great deal from the Artemis I test flight,” said mission manager Mike Sarafin in a press conference, reported by NPR. “And through this experience, we will change and modify anything necessary to prepare ourselves for a crewed flight on the very next mission.”

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