White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller took a brief moment away from his goal of deporting immigrants in order to offer a suggestion on how to improve “Star Trek.”
The franchise’s latest show, “Starfleet Academy,” debuted this week on Paramount Plus and, true to the original vision, shows characters from different backgrounds working together for a greater cause.
So, of course, Miller hated it.
On Thursday, he responded to a post from the @EndWokeness X account that showed a brief clip of three female characters competently dealing with a serious issue by calling the clip “tragic.”
Miller then made a suggestion that Paramount Plus “save the franchise” by bringing back 94-year-old William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original 1960s-era show, and “give him total creative control.”
There are a couple of issues with Miller’s suggestion.
Although Shatner is fairly robust considering his advanced age, running a franchise is hard work for someone half his age.
Oh, and more importantly, “Star Trek” has long been lauded for showing a world where differences between people were acknowledged, but also celebrated.
Many people interpreted Miller’s post as a variation of “show me you don’t understand the point of ‘Star Trek’ without saying you don’t understand the point of ‘Star Trek.’”
HuffPost reached out to Shatner for comment on Miller’s post, but there was no immediate response.
But on X, the mockery commenced, including this joke from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office: “Stephen Miller saw an alien on the bridge and started drafting an executive order.”
Other people also ridiculed Miller’s suggestion and his seeming cluelessness about the aim of the franchise.
Some people pointed out the franchise’s history of promoting civil rights and Shatner’s own commitment to progressive politics.
One person did point out a possible reason why an “America First” guy like Miller might want to rethink his “Star Trek” suggestion: Shatner isn’t an American citizen.