President Trump is facing backlash for falsely claiming the Washington D.C. midair collision may have occurred because of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The crash happened Wednesday night when a Black Hawk military helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people over the Potomac River.
Trump held a news conference about the tragedy on Thursday morning. According to the Associated Press, he began with a moment of silence and a prayer for the victims. It didn’t take long for the gathering to go off the rails.
He said the crash “could have been” caused by DEI at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and suggested the Biden administration was responsible.
After the controversial comment, Trump was asked by reporters how he reached such a conclusion. His answer, “Because I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.”
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Reporters pressed Trump to clarify his comments connecting the crash to DEI policies.
His response, “You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden. And Biden went by a standard that seeks the exact opposite. So we don’t know. But we do know that you had two planes at the same level. You had a helicopter and a plane. That shouldn’t have happened. And, we’ll see. We’re going to look into that, and we’re going to see. But certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior. And that’s what we’re going to have.”
Democratic Congresswomen Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both responded to Trump’s comments with sharply-worded statements on social media.
“This is a blatant lie and a disgrace to the memories of the victims,” Crockett posted on X (formerly Twitter). “While emergency responders are still recovering peoples’ loved ones from the freezing water, Trump is using these families’ pain for POLITICS by blaming their deaths on DEI. A total failure of leadership.”
Ocasio-Cortez added on X, “I represent LaGuardia Airport as well as workers for JFK. Trump gutted the Aviation Safety committee last week. Air traffic controllers – already understaffed – got Trump’s ‘buyout’ this week with a 1 week ultimatum to decide. It’s not DEI – it’s him. And Elon [Musk] too.”
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