Sheila Jackson Lee Says Moon Is a ‘Planet’ That’s ‘Made Up of Mostly Gases,’ But Things Only Get Worse When She Tries to Correct It

One would hope that elected officials would know more about astronomy than the average middle schooler.

Well, despite having served as the U.S. Representative for Texas’ 18th Congressional District since 1995, up to and including leading the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee, Sheila Jackson Lee apparently did not.

Instead she made a series of absurd statements about the sun and the moon during the April 8 solar eclipse that earned her widespread mockery on social media.

The day of the eclipse, Jackson Lee was addressing a group of high school students at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas, as seen in this video originally shared to the social media platform X.

Obviously I misspoke and meant to say the sun, but as usual, Republicans are focused on stupid things instead of stuff that really matters.

What can I say though, foolish thinkers lust for stupidity! https://t.co/ABGxUdRqF6

— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) April 9, 2024

To begin with, Jackson Lee told students that the moon provides “unique light and energy,” which it does not.

It should be common knowledge that the moon reflects the light off the sun, producing no light or energy of its own.

She then continued, saying that “You’ve heard the word ‘full moon.’ Sometimes, you need to take the opportunity just to come out and see a full moon is that a complete-rounded circle, which is made up mostly of gases.”

Was she talking about Jupiter or the moon?

Jackson Lee, however, oblivious to her egregious faux pas, continued, telling the students that “And that’s why the question is: Why or how could we as humans live on the moon? Are the gases such that we could do that?”

Oof.

And, believe it or not, Jackson Lee’s subsequent statements only served to more amply demonstrate her astounding ignorance.

Jackson Lee told students that “The sun is a mighty powerful heat, but it’s almost impossible to go near the sun. The moon is more manageable,” and that “you will see … in a couple of years, that NASA is going back to the moon.”

Join us LIVE at Booker T. Washington High School for a viewing of the solar eclipse! https://t.co/nlOWZBGHBo

— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) April 8, 2024

Toward the end of the original clip, Jackson Lee then mentioned that the moon is “another planet which we’re going to see shortly.”

And, as Australian news site News.com.au pointed out, the moon does not meet the three criteria to be a planet, as she claimed, since it doesn’t orbit a star, doesn’t clear away other objects in its orbit, and isn’t big enough to have a spherical shape.

In light of these spectacularly off-base comments (not a first from her, since, according to Fox News, she once lashed out at NASA staffers when they informed her there was no flag on Mars), Jackson Lee was rightly thrashed by the good folks on X.