Conspiracy theorists who believe the moon landing was faked are temporarily setting their concerns aside after Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, endorsed former President Donald Trump.
In a lengthy post on Wednesday, the 94-year-old astronaut argued that Trump is the ideal candidate when it comes to further pursuing space exploration.
"For me, for the future of our country, to meet enormous challenges, and for the proven policy accomplishments above, I believe we are best served by voting for @realDonaldTrump," Aldrin wrote. "I wholeheartedly endorse him for President of the United States. Godspeed President Trump, and God Bless the United States of America."
The endorsement was quickly highlighted by Trump's fan base, who applauded Aldrin for what they saw as a courageous move.
Yet the most surprising support came from moon-landing truthers, who temporarily set aside their disdain for Aldrin to praise his endorsement.
Adam Johnson, known online as the "Lectern Guy" after being photographed with Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) podium during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, responded by stating: "Fine. The moon landing is real."
"OK moon landing was real," wrote another.
Erin Elizabeth, a prominent conspiracy theorist with more than 203,000 followers on X, made similar remarks in response to Aldrin.
"We love you, Buzz," she said. "But did you really go to the moon?"
But some were unwilling to let go. One X user cited an instance from 2002 when Aldrin was harassed by a Bible-wielding conspiracy theorist who demanded he defend the Apollo 11 moon landing. The man, who also called Aldrin a coward during the confrontation, was swiftly punched in the face by the astronaut.
"Why wouldn't you swear on the Bible that you had been to the moon then?" the user @pnwguerrilla asked.
Most of the pushback though came from critics of Trump, who expressed dismay at Aldrin's post.
"Buzz Aldrin endorses Trump," user RJ Swinton wrote. "This one hits personally, I've met Buzz before and he was an amazing person. Seeing him ignore the realities and focus solely on space because of Elon and Trump is a [gut] punch. Lost a lot of respect today."
And the irony of Aldrin endorsing Trump in light of his conspiratorial base was not lost on many others.
"The man has gone from punching conspiracy theorists to voting for them," AP Strange said. "Back to the moon with you, Buzz."
Prior to the endorsement, Aldrin praised Trump for creating Space Force, although he argued at the time the name was antagonistic and should instead be "Space Guard."
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