NOVI, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 26: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump dances on stage during a campaign rally at Suburban Collection Showplace on October 26, 2024 in Novi, Michigan. Trump is scheduled to hold rallies in Michigan and Pennsylvania on Saturday before closing out the weekend with a rally on Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

‘Are. You. F——. Kidding. Me.’: Trump shamelessly blames Biden for D.C. plane crash

Trump responds to a new tragedy in his age old way: by blaming it on his enemies.

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At around 9pm on January 29th, a United Airlines set carrying 64 passengers crashed into the Potomac River after colliding with an Army helicopter in midair. Dozens of bodies have been pulled from the wreckage, but so far there are no survivors.

In a press conference in held to address the tragedy, the president forewent expressing condolences to those afflicted in favor of using the disaster to launch a fresh attack on the Biden administration. According to Trump, the crash stemmed from Biden-era DEI policies, which he believes lowered federal standards for aviation safety.

Twitter responded: “Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.”

In his press conference, the president claimed that “genius” potential aviation employees were being turned away in favor of those with “severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions.” The president named “missing extremities,” “partial paralysis” and “dwarfism” among the examples he gave of the various disabilities. When asked how he knew that DEI was the cause of the crash, Trump responded “because I have common sense.”

Trump’s censure of the aviation system comes days after his administration announced top to bottom level changes in the Federal Aviation Administration made in an effort to roll back DEI initiatives. A memo released by the president’s office detailed his administration’s plan to end the “madness” caused by “Biden DEI hiring programs” in the organization.

Users on Twitter were quick to criticize Trump’s decision to purge the FAA, lambasting his attempted to “blame Black people and women” for the crash after claiming to have eliminated DEI practices in aviation.

Trump’s remarks were criticized by Democrats. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called Trump’s comments “despicable,” saying that the president should be focused on “leading, not lying” in the wake of the tragedy. Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Trump’s words “turn your stomach.”

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans echoed Trump’s attribution of the crash to inclusivity initiatives. Vice President J.D. Vance followed up by telling reporters that aviation agencies should hire people who are “actually competent enough to do the job,” and that hundreds had qualified air traffic controller candidates had been “turned away because of the color of their skin.”

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles parroted Trump and Vance’s stance in an interview on Fox News, saying that the crash could have been caused by “human error” or “equipment failure” before posing the rhetorical “did DEI play a role in this type of thing?”

Republicans have used DEI as a scapegoat for national tragedies before. After the New Orleans truck attack that killed 14 people, House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise said the attack could have been avoided if law enforcement agencies hadn’t been so “wrapped up in the DEI movement”, bashing the FBI and the Department of Defense for being more focused on “diversity and inclusion as opposed to security.”

According to Trump, American aviation systems had a “much higher standard” for air traffic control before the Biden administration, and used “very powerful tests” to determine the aptitude of controllers. Trump claimed that the Biden “terminated” those testing systems, causing aviation administrations to loosen their standards.

The Trump administration isn’t exactly known for its “standards,” considering that its Cabinet nominees consist of vaccine conspiracy theorists, alleged sexual predators, and woefully unqualified political donors. By trashing DEI initiatives, Trump has established his own sort of meritocracy, where loyalty is the sole qualification.


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