Vice President Mike Pence ignored a “do not touch” sign on a piece of space hardware at the Kennedy Center on Thursday, and Twitter immediately turned him into a meme.
Pence was recently named by Trump to head up the relaunched National Space Council. During a speech at the Kennedy Center Thursday, Pence promised to lead “a new era of American leadership in space” where Americans would walk on Mars.
The moment that really captured people’s attention, however, was Pence reaching out to touch a piece of space equipment that had a “do not touch” posted on the side.
In Pence's defense, "DO NOT TOUCH" is in quotes. pic.twitter.com/E6AXhxICnn
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) July 7, 2017
sign: Do Not Touch!
Pence: *touches*
Mother: This is why you are not allowed to dine with ladies. pic.twitter.com/m5EeofAf9q— TSD (@TGSD64) July 7, 2017
On @VP @Mike_Pence's disregard for highly conspicuous warning signs on critical #NASA space flight equipment. https://t.co/QVU7CHNDQU
— Rahul Kalvapalle (@Kalvapalle) July 7, 2017
Pence:….Shiny
Rubio:The sign says "Do Not Touch" Mike!
Pence:….Shiny pic.twitter.com/vyBqZBiBZd— St Peter (@stpeteyontweety) July 7, 2017
Pence tours NASA
Sign:"Do not touch"
He can't stop, touches anyway
This is why Mother won't let him alone with girlspic.twitter.com/hoFwZkhgw6— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) July 7, 2017
Mike Pence to NASA: "You telling me 'do not touch' is like Jesus telling me 'do not judge' — amiright?" pic.twitter.com/WRQPIbYYsD
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) July 7, 2017
Mike Pence touching a 'do not touch' sign – perfect metaphor for everything that is wrong right now https://t.co/t7fcf8RpWJ pic.twitter.com/f5yEz9sxjk
— The Poke (@ThePoke) July 7, 2017
Today while visiting NASA Mike Pence confused outer space w/ heaven, Mars w/ an enemy battlefield & “DO NOT TOUCH” FOR “MUST TOUCH NOW!” pic.twitter.com/qHloz1S5He
— Franksgiving (@goddamnedfrank) July 7, 2017
For some reason, seeing Pence touch the thing that said DO NOT TOUCH made me think of this #FarSide cartoon.
Just me? pic.twitter.com/AVeSK6tBiM— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) July 7, 2017
Sign on fragile space equipment: DO NOT TOUCH
Mike Pence: *slowly touches it* "oh…my…GOD, MOTHER, I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!" pic.twitter.com/uzorGVS5FK
— Donald Trump Toupee (@TrumpeeToupee) July 7, 2017
UPDATE (5:14 PM EDT):
Pence wrote about touching the equipment on his own Twitter account, joking that Florida Senator Marco Rubio dared him to do so.
Sorry @NASA…@MarcoRubio dared me to do it! pic.twitter.com/qIYtKOPyFh
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) July 7, 2017
NASA also released an official statement asserting that Pence hadn’t really broken any rules.
“The signs are there as a day-to-day reminder, including the one visible on the titanium Forward Bay Cover for the Orion spacecraft,” Jen Rae Wang, NASA spokesperson said. “Procedures require the hardware to be cleaned before tiles are bonded to the spacecraft, so touching the surface is absolutely okay. Otherwise, the hardware would have had a protective cover over it like the thermal heat shield, which was nearby.”
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