President Biden quipped that Americans of Indian descent are taking over the country during a call to congratulate NASA scientists and engineers, led by Swati Mohan, whose team successfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars.
Biden was quick to put his words in the context of celebrating the diversity of America, but the line could be added to the 78-year-old’s list of awkward comments.
Perseverance traveled about 300 million miles before landing on Mars two weeks ago as part of a study to establish whether the planet ever hosted life.
The president, who has had a career of verbal slips and a tendency to speak in a folksy manner, spoke to the team behind the Mars mission in a video conference call on Thursday evening.
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Mohan, head of guidance, navigation, and control operations at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, thanked the president for taking the time to talk to the team.
“Are you kidding me? What an honor this is,” Biden said. “This is an incredible honor.”
“And it’s amazing. Indian-of-descent Americans are taking over the country,” the president quipped. “You, my vice president, my speechwriter.”
The Bindi girl #SwatiMohan rocking in the control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena as the #NASAPerseverance rover successfully touched down on the surface of the Red Planet #Hindus pic.twitter.com/vXliN5ZY4X
— Geetha Kothapalli (@Geethak_MP) February 20, 2021
Vice President Kamala Harris’s family includes roots in India and Jamaica. And Biden’s director of speechwriting, Vinay Reddy, is the son of Indian parents.
Mohan, who migrated to the United States with her parents from southern Karnataka, has become something of the public face of the Mars program since her voice announced Perseverance had arrived and was “ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.”
Video of that moment, when the team began celebrating with high-fives, has gone viral.
As Biden praised the team’s efforts, the 78-year-old commander in chief reflected on the country’s makeup.
“One of the reasons why we’re such an incredible country is we’re such a diverse country,” he said.
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But Biden’s main message was the hopeful one that such a bold mission offered inspiration and hope at a time when it was most needed.
“We can land a rover on Mars, we can beat a pandemic, and with science, hope, and vision,” the Scranton, Pennsylvania-born president, added, “there’s not a damn thing we can’t do as a country.”
