President Donald Trump made controversial remarks on Thursday, blaming diversity hiring initiatives for undermining air safety as the investigation into a deadly plane crash in Washington, D.C., began. The crash, which killed 67 people, occurred on Wednesday evening when a commercial airliner collided with a U.S. Army helicopter while landing at Reagan National Airport.
As the federal investigation into the crash was just starting and first responders were still recovering bodies from the Potomac River, Trump speculated about the causes, despite acknowledging that it was too soon to draw conclusions. He encouraged the nation to pray for the victims but quickly shifted to political attacks.
“Some really bad things happened and some things happened that shouldn’t have happened,” Trump said from the White House briefing room, just over three miles from the crash site.
Trump specifically targeted former President Joe Biden’s administration, claiming it encouraged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to recruit workers with “severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions” under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative. He added that the program allowed hiring people with hearing and vision issues, paralysis, epilepsy, and “dwarfism.”
However, Trump did not provide any evidence that unqualified individuals were being placed in critical positions like air traffic control. He also acknowledged that there was no indication that air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport had made any mistakes.
When asked why he was blaming diversity initiatives, Trump said, “because I have common sense, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.” He emphasized that air traffic controllers needed to be “naturally talented geniuses” to ensure safety.
Trump also criticized Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s former transportation secretary, calling him “a disaster” and blaming him for the issues with diversity hiring. Buttigieg responded on social media, calling Trump’s comments “despicable” and urging him to lead rather than lie.
The White House later invited reporters to watch Trump sign an executive order aimed at stopping “woke policies” in federal aviation. This followed another executive order Trump signed last week ending diversity initiatives at the FAA.
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