Biden jokingly asks ‘what the press is like’ in faraway worlds unveiling Webb telescope image

President Joe Biden unveiled a stunning new image of distant galaxies on Monday night from NASA’s James Webb space telescope – then promptly cracked a joke about reporters in those faraway places.

The telescope, which cost the National Air and Space Administration roughly $10 billion, produced the sharpest, deepest image of the universe ever seen by mankind.

The president met the once-in-a-lifetime occasion by repeating a favorite line of his about the country leading ‘not by the example of our power, but the power of our example.’

He did laud the unveiling as a ‘historic day’ and called for more funding going toward scientific innovation. 

‘Whoa,’ Biden gasped when the photo was unveiled, showing a myriad of distant stars and galaxies lighting up the blackness of space while in perpetual motion.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, a former Senate Democrat, put the image in perspective as ‘a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm’s length’ in relation to how much of the universe it shows. 

Along with seeing whether distant planets up to 13 lightyears away are habitable, Nelson promised, ‘we are going to be able to answer questions that we don’t even know what the questions are.’ Nelson finished his remarks by thanking the international scientific community for its herculean effort.

‘It’s amazing,’ Biden told him. 

Shooting a grin toward reporters, the president added, ‘I wonder what the press is like in those other places.’

This image provided by NASA on Monday, July 11, 2022, shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists can get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus

The media was then ushered out of the room, where officials will continue briefing Biden along with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris opened the event as chair of the National Space Council, among an eclectic variety of hats handed to her by the White House. 

Her role leading the scientific group was previously in the headlines late last year over a well-meaning but awkward commercial starring Harris and five children, aimed at kindling an interest in space exploration for kids.

But in an odd production choice, the production opted to use child actors rather than students selected based on their love of space.

‘All five of them are actors,’ the father of a 13-year-old in the video told the Washington Examiner at the time. ‘He’s a child actor – he’s been trying to do this type of thing for a while.’

The event was delayed because of planning for the president’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, he said at the top of his speech

On Monday evening, Harris said the Webb telescope ‘will enhance what we know about the origins of our universe, our solar system, and possibly life itself.’

Each official who spoke about the meaning the new image holds also took time to thank the other nations whose labor contributed to its unveiling.

For the president, it evoked a comment he had made on at least three past occasions.

‘Tomorrow when this image is shared with the world, it will be a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration, for America and all of humanity,’ Biden said.

‘You know as international collaboration, this telescope embodies how America leads the world not by the example of our power, but the power of our example.’

He pledged the country was leading ‘not by the example of our power, but the power of our example’ in his November 2020 victory speech, and then again in his inaugural address.

It was also mentioned in a February 2021 speech at the State Department.