MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle didn't disguise her disgust with the Trump administration's proposed "Space Force" on Friday, saying it was akin to "playing Space Cowboys."
She also muttered "oh my goodness" after playing a clip of Vice President Mike Pence speaking at the Pentagon about establishing the proposed new military branch by 2020 and noted the proposed $8 billion for it could go toward other matters like cleaning Flint, Michigan's water supply.
Ruhle often peppers her news program with moral lessons, snarky asides, and admonitions of Ivanka Trump. Friday was no different, as the sardonic anchor took shots at the idea throughout MSNBC's 9 and 11 a.m. broadcasts.
"Galaxy quest! What started as a line at a rally could now be becoming a reality," Ruhle said. "The administration now asking for $8 billion—I'm going to say that again–8 billion bucks over the next five years to launch the first new branch of the military since 1947. What's the goal?"
She then played a clip of Pence saying, "It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space."
Ruhle shook her head and muttered derisively, "Oh my goodness."
Later in the 9 a.m. hour, she repeated the $8 billion figure and said, "I remind you. There's not clean water yet in Flint, Michigan."
Following another Pence clip where he said Trump would meet "emerging threats in this new battlefield," Ruhle added yet another editorial statement.
"I know it seems like it was sort of absurd, but he was just glad that nobody was asking him about Paul Manafort," Ruhle said, referring to the ongoing fraud trial of Trump's former campaign manager.
Later in the morning, after she mockingly played the famous theme in 2001: A Space Odyssey, she ripped the "priorities" of the Trump White House by pointing out it was already fundraising off the idea and asking for people to vote on the Space Force's logo.
Ruhle said the $8 billion figure could go toward things like Flint, reuniting illegal immigrant families separated by the administration's border policies, and shoring up the Veterans Affairs administration.
"The U.S. federal budget deficit for next fiscal year is at a whopping $985 billion, but no, let's spend some more money playing Space Cowboys," she said.
Pence said in his speech that space was now "crowded and adversarial," and the U.S. Space Force would strengthen security and ensure prosperity.
"The time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of our armed forces, to prepare for the next battlefield where America’s best and bravest will be called to deter and defeat a new generation of threats to our people, to our nation," he said.