(DCNF)—The taxpayer-funded news outlet NPR contradicted its own reporting Wednesday on astronauts stranded in the International Space Station (ISS) in order to fact-check President Donald Trump.
NPR reported Wednesday that American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were not “stranded” as Trump had suggested in announcing his request to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to rescue the two ISS crew members. However, NPR previously referred to the astronauts as “stranded” aboard the station in multiple headlines last year.
“I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration,” Trump said on Truth Social Tuesday. “They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”
“Trump asks SpaceX to ‘go get’ two stranded ISS astronauts. They’re not stranded,” NPR’s headline reads.
The astronauts initially arrived on the ISS in June 2024 on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which they discovered had technical issues that would preclude their safe reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. An August National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) audit of Boeing found that their rockets were of poor quality and had numerous manufacturing irregularities.
NPR reported Wednesday that NASA denied that the astronauts were “stranded” multiple times, and linked to its own article which stated that the astronauts were indeed stranded. NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said in June that the pair on the space station weren’t “stranded” in space, while also admitting that NASA didn’t have a definite timeline for their return at the time, according to CBS.
SpaceX has planned to bring the astronauts back since August, according to NPR’s own reporting at the time. The astronauts’ replacements had their flight delayed until March from the initial February date, with the replacements’ arrival allowing the two stranded astronauts to return in the SpaceX capsule currently docked at the station.
NPR calls federal funding “essential” to its operations. Even though less than 1% of NPR’s funding comes from direct grants, the outlet receives funding from institutions that get public dollars themselves, such as universities and state and local sources.
The outlet has long fielded accusations of having a left-wing bias in its reporting. Uri Berliner, a former 25-year veteran editor at NPR, said in April 2024 that the outlet had a clear anti-Trump bias and that “an open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR.”
NPR did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
