Even though he owns a badass American flag windbreaker, Neil deGrasse Tyson seems a little perturbed about the results of the recent presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump is notoriously anti-science, and Tyson has already suggested that sending him into space might be the best way to get him to changes his ways. On Friday, though, Tyson took to Twitter to advocate for a more direct approach: he wants to grab Trump’s crotch to get his attention.
In a tweet posted shortly after lunchtime, the director of the Hayden Planetarium laid out his plans for some future meeting with The Donald. “When I meet President Trump, I may first grab his crotch — to get his attention — then discuss Science with him,” he wrote.
Tyson’s tweet, of course, is referencing the infamous Access Hollywood tape that came out during the 2016 election, which featured Trump bragging about sexual assault while on camera. In the tape, Trump actually says “grab them by the pussy,” but Tyson cleaned up the language a bit for his tweet, threatening only to grab Trump’s general crotch.
When I meet President Trump, I may first grab his crotch — to get his attention — then discuss Science with him. — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 18, 2016
Careful readers will note that Tyson capitalized “Science” in his tweet for emphasis, the same way one might if they were calling this a Bad tweet. Trump’s scientific and environmental policies are truly atrocious, and while it would be nice if Tyson could actually talk some sense into the man, he’s not going to. All this tweet accomplishes is referencing Trump’s horrible history of sexual assault while threatening (albeit jokingly), to do the same to him, which is a bad look.
As it were, though, the only thing Tyson is going to be grabbing is attention, since this provocative tweet is just another illustration that the scientist has become a victim of his own celebrity.
Update: At 6 p.m., a couple hours after his tweet about grabbing crotches, Tyson posted a slightly more mature follow-up.
