SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that Friday was "a very good day." Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on its twelfth flight test, which was deemed a success. The livestream of the splashdown in the Indian Ocean hit a sour note for an ex-SpaceX lead software engineer, though, what with the crew chanting nationalist dogwhistles in celebration.
Maybe @SpaceX can ask its engineers not to chant nationalist dogwhistles on the livestream please? 😒
— she builds their fires (@ErinIshimoticha) May 22, 2026
Those "nationalist dogwhistles"? Chants of "USA! USA!"
She got hit with a Community Note:
Readers added context
Dog whistles in this context are coded messages (usually racist) only a small intended audience understands. Chanting “USA! USA!” is unabashedly and proudly nationalist. It’s no dog whistle and is not at all racist.
No wonder she's ex-SpaceX.
The chanted “nationalist dogwhistle” in question was apparently “USA! USA!”
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) May 23, 2026
Just an unbridledly psychotic take https://t.co/Hux4YqEFWd
HOT TAKE:
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) May 23, 2026
If AMERICAN engineers build the most badass rocket ever created by mankind and launch it from AMERICAN soil…
They can chant USA USA USA 🇺🇸 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/MDKfENmIwz
Calm down ma’am. This is America.
— Wade Miller (@WadeMiller) May 23, 2026
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) May 23, 2026
She came back to the thread to explain.
They're chanting "USA", like sporting events do this pic.twitter.com/IO0noVhXYN
— St Paul Pete (@Pjlecy) May 22, 2026
Exactly, you’re so close. We’re not doing this to prove the USA is better than other countries. This isn’t a game with sides. The rest of humankind isn’t our enemy or opponent, we’re doing this FOR THEM. For all mankind.
— she builds their fires (@ErinIshimoticha) May 22, 2026
Go fuck yourself 🇺🇸
— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) May 23, 2026
Do you hate yourself as much as you hate this country?
— FredA1776 (@A1776Fred) May 23, 2026
WE are doing this for them, because they will and frankly cannot. We are proud of that.
— SocialismAlwaysFails (@4SigmaSmarter) May 23, 2026
It's a pity you can't see that.
They're not rooting against other countries. They're rooting for theirs. The distinction is clearly lost on miserable countertribalists.
— Ohms13 (@ohms133) May 23, 2026
You're not doing anything. Ex-employee.
— InstructorJohn (O-Ga) (@jej117) May 23, 2026
The ones who ARE can chant what they want.
We don't have to prove that the USA is better than any other country that ever existed in the history of mankind. Everyone already knows this.
— Galatians110 (@Galatians110Guy) May 23, 2026
Except for the dull ones, of course.
Yes the country that enables doing this for everyone else
— MrGeary08 (@MrGeary08) May 23, 2026
Cheering doesn’t constitute an enemy or opponent
What an awful take
A healthy love for one's country is good. Especially when wishing no harm on anyone else.
— Myshkin (@ode_to_fyodor) May 23, 2026
But it's also worth reflecting on who it was who convinced you nationalism was so terrible and what their motivations might have been for doing so.
People like you are the absolute worst. Bitching mindlessly about a country you will never leave because deep down you know how great it is and how many opportunities it has afforded you. Mindless griping is your entire personality and fills your empty little life....pathetic.
— CarolinaConservative3 (@1776Carolina3) May 23, 2026
I cant imagine how exhausting it must be to view every fucking thing through a lens of manufactured oppression and outrage. What a waste of your time on this earth 🙄
— CarolinaConservative3 (@1776Carolina3) May 23, 2026
SpaceX lead software engineer speaks out against her peers chanting USA! when the US owned and US led company she works for launches their US made rocket from the US based launch center.
— GruntDoc (@gruntdoc) May 23, 2026
Yep, totally normal.
Ex-software engineer.
If another country were proud of its achievements, would you object just as much? Or is it only America that you hate?
— LastKnownSurvivor (@4everwalkalone) May 23, 2026
The USA has the most advanced and successful space programs in the history of the world. This could only have happened in the United States. There’s nothing dog whistle about it. They’re rightfully proud of what they’ve accomplished and the nation that made it possible.
— Derek Trulious (@DerekTru) May 23, 2026
— Kosher (@koshercockney) May 23, 2026
Nationalist dog whistles?
— @SouthernLadyDr (@southern_dr) May 23, 2026
Why don’t you GTFO of America since you hate it so much?
I will fund a one way ticket to anywhere you want to go as long as you, a) renounce your citizenship, and b) never return to the United States.
Ready to take me up on that offer?
Can you show on the doll where chanting USA hurt you the most? pic.twitter.com/DsbFtmyvjx
— Vic Vega (@CapitalisticPig) May 23, 2026
What would she like them to chant? "HU-MAN RACE! HU-MAN RACE!" Sorry, this was an American achievement all the way. We're sorry that pride in your country is something you apparently lack.
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