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During a White House press conference on Thursday, President Donald Trump went off the rails, blaming Dems and his predecessors for the recent plane crash near Reagan National Airport. The collision between a commuter plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter has likely left 67 people dead. An investigation into what caused the tragic event is underway. Nevertheless, Trump found a way to point fingers, blaming Democrats and DEI hiring for the tragedy.
Trump Alleges the FAA Hired Incompetent People
“I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” Trump stated at the top of the press conference. He went on to say that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hired individuals with “severe mental disabilities” under former President Joe Biden.
It should be noted that the FAA’s policies on hiring people with intellectual disabilities have not changed since 2013. The same rules about hiring for jobs with the FAA were in effect during Trump’s first presidential run. However, Trump doubled down on DEI and equal opportunity hiring as the issue.
“A group within the FAA determined the workforce was too white,” Trump stated before he took office. “They actually came out with a directive saying it’s too white.” His vice president JD Vance backed these claims.
“If you go to some of the headlines over the past ten years, many hundreds of people suing the government because they would like to be air traffic controllers but turned away because of the color of their skin,” Vance said. “That policy ends under Donald Trump’s leadership. Safety is the first priority of our aviation industry.”
CNN Reporter Gets Shut Down at Press Conference
At Thursday’s press conference, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and several other reporters questioned Trump on how DEI and Joe Biden were to blame for the plane crash.
“We do not yet know the names of the 67 people who were killed, and you are blaming Democrats and DEI policies and air traffic controllers and seemingly a member of the military who was flying that Black Hawk helicopter,” Collins said. “Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of the investigation right now?”
Baffled by the question, Trump said that he couldn’t imagine what the names of the people on the plane had to do with anything. Collins responded, “Does it comfort their family to hear you blaming DEI policies?”
“They are a group of people that have lost their lives,” Trump continued. “If you want a list of the names we can give you that – we’ll be giving that very soon. And in coordination with American Airlines, we’re in coordination very strongly, obviously, with the military. But I think that’s not a very smart question.”
Collins attempted to ask another question about the plane crash, but Trump said he was “surprised” by her remarks. This earned him some snickers from the administration present.
The tragedy comes after Democrats warned about a “dangerous freeze of air traffic control hiring.” Trump also came in guns blazing, firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard. Some think this could be part of the problem that led to the devastating plane crash. Investigators are still trying to get to the bottom of what happened over the Potomac River Wednesday night.
