America's most famous scientist sparks more rumors he's going MAGA after latest apparent shift to the right
Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, often outspoken for his liberal viewpoints, has continued to fuel speculation that he's veering right.
In a Thursday X post, Dr Tyson showed off an image of his wife's bullet-riddled target paper from their trip to a shooting range in Nevada.
On the surface, it would seem like a perfectly innocent post taking pride in his wife, Alice Young, after their day of target shooting.
However, Tyson said Young had been a 'student member of the NRA,' also known as the National Rifle Association.
The group has long been politically tied to Republicans and has maintained a strong friendship with President Donald Trump, who has been a fierce defender of the Second Amendment.
That post comes less than two weeks after Tyson triggered a liberal meltdown on social media after posing with one of Trump's Make America Great Again hats.
Tyson, an astrophysicist, writer, and media personality, has never openly supported President Trump and has often opposed conservatives on issues like transgender rights and climate change awareness.
Despite that, some of Tyson's left-leaning fans on social media saw the seemingly pro-gun tweet as another sign the 66-year-old is shifting to the right.
'Thought Dems were against guns Neil?' one person commented on the post.
'Americans and their guns,' another person lamented with an eye-rolling emoji.
In the post, Tyson noted that his wife is from Alaska, a solidly Republican state, which led some X users to assume the couple were in a politically-mixed marriage.
However, the vast majority of comments simply praised Young's performance, repeatedly shooting the center of the target from 21 feet away with a CZ Shadow 2 9-millimeter handgun.
While Tyson received plenty of encouragement from gun supporters online, the popular scientist actually has a long history of opposing guns and gun violence.
'Some claim the USA is a Christian nation, compelling me to wonder which assault rifle Jesus would choose: the AR-15 or AK-47,' Tyson tweeted in September of 2014.
'Odd how many Americans invoke the 2nd Amendment to justify gun ownership, rather than explore whether or not it's a good idea,' he added in June 2016.
Despite Tyson's past criticism of the Second Amendment, America's right to bear arms actually contributed to the scientist's day of fun at the Nevada shooting range.
On April 28, Neil deGrasse Tyson posted an image of himself holding 4 red hats, including a MAGA hat worn by supporters of President Trump
The Second Amendment indirectly protects shooting ranges by affirming the right to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes.
Two Supreme Court cases, District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen in 2022, further extended this right to support firearms training and recreational shooting.
Along with Tyson's MAGA-promoting tweet in April, the scientist added a 48-hour poll, asking his social media fans to help him choose which of four hats he should wear.
Along with the MAGA hat, Tyson also held up three hats that said 'Make America Smart Again,' 'Make Lying Wrong Again,' and 'Relax It's Just A Red Hat.'
Make Lying Wrong Again won with over 32 percent of the vote. Trump's Make America Great Again slogan received the least support at just 18.8 percent.
'While we can surely agree we want to Make America Great. To achieve that goal, looks like we need to Make America Smart. But first, we need to Make Lying Wrong Again,' Tyson tweeted about the results.
His comments received even more backlash from liberals on social media, claiming that the astrophysicist should avoid talking about political issues altogether.
'Why are you getting into politics? Stay in your lane, which is deteriorating,' one person wrote on X.
Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, a position he has held since 1996.
He has authored numerous books, including The Pluto Files in 2009 and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry in 2017, which popularized complex scientific concepts.
Tyson has been a prominent science communicator, gaining widespread fame through media appearances and hosting various educational programs devoted to space. He current co-hosts the podcast StarTalk, blending science with pop culture.
Although he continues to share seemingly liberal stances on many issues, including immigration and the Trump Administration's cuts to science funding, Tyson has remained generally nonpartisan throughout his professional career.
He served on Republican President George W Bush's aerospace commission, as well as the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy (the 'Moon, Mars, and Beyond' initiative), advising on NASA's strategic direction in 2004.
Dr Tyson has also recently tweeted about his support of Elon Musk's goal of reaching Mars and about his new friendship with podcast host Joe Rogan.
Both Musk and Rogan provided influential support during President Trump successful 2024 campaign.
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