Democratic Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee claimed Monday the moon is made out of gases during a solar eclipse viewing event at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas.
Lee, the former Ranking Member on the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, also stated that the sun is “too hot” and “almost impossible” for humans to get “near” the sun.
WATCH:
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee says the moon is made out of “gases” and the sun is “almost” too hot for us to go near.
Just think: @JacksonLeeTX18 was almost the mayor of Houston. pic.twitter.com/w8eucQKuYN
— Kenny Webster (@KennethRWebster) April 9, 2024
“A full moon is a complete, rounded circle,” Lee said during the event. ” The question is how could we live on the moon? Are the gases such that we can do that?”
Lee’s statements received some scathing criticism on social media. Michael Barry, a Houston-area talk show host, said, “Imagine you’re in high school and the speaker on the day of the eclipse is . . . Sheila Jackson Lee. Enjoy these pearls of wisdom from this national treasure.”
Imagine you’re in high school and the speaker on the day of the eclipse is . . . Sheila Jackson Lee. Enjoy these pearls of wisdom from this national treasure. https://t.co/xkr6H175Gu
— Michael Berry (@MichaelBerrySho) April 9, 2024
Kyle Becker, a former associate producer for Fox News, also mocked the congresswoman.
Congresswoman/Astrophysicist Sheila Jackson Lee tells Americans the moon is made out of “gases” and the sun is “almost” too hot for us to go near.
Here is your elected leadership, America. Don’t wonder why the country is going to hell. This is why.pic.twitter.com/w9sEVgDb2q
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) April 9, 2024
Sheila Jackson Lee also thinks America planted its flag on Mars… https://t.co/23dNe7EPOv pic.twitter.com/jXXzCe6Owm
— Jacki Kotkiewicz (@jackikotkiewicz) April 9, 2024
According to NASA, the sun is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit, and hot enough to sustain nuclear fusion. The moon, however, is not made of “gases,” but rather iron and some nickel at its core. Its mantle and crust are made up of numerous minerals, including olivine and pyroxene, and oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium and aluminum atoms.
Lee, a former Houston mayoral candidate, previously drew backlash over her statements on COVID-19’s impact on black Americans and transgender ideology.
In July 2023, the congresswoman claimed religious leaders assured her that the ideology does not stand “opposed” to “anyone’s religion.”
“I will not pretend to be a scripture person,” Jackson said at the time. “I am not ordained, I am not in any leading religious organization as a religious leader. But I have spoken to persons who lead and they have given me no evidence that this issue [transgenderism] speaks to anyone’s religion.”
Lee also directly linked slavery and the impact of COVID-19 on black Americans during remarks on the House floor in November of 2022. (RELATED: Democrat Says There’s A Direct Link Between Slavery And COVID)
“There is no doubt we have been impacted, that DNA in the trajectory of slavery to today,” said Lee. “For example, COVID. Black African Americans have gotten COVID at a rate of nearly 1.5 times higher than that of white people, or hospitalized at a rate of nearly four times higher and three times likely to die. COVID hit us very desperately.”