President Trump appeared to fuel political tensions in the aftermath of the tragic American Airlines Flight 5342 crash on Thursday. Following the Commander-in-chief claiming without any evidence that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives might have played a role in the incident, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fired back.
The development comes amid a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which found that the air traffic control (ATC) tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) combined two controller responsibilities into one before the crash. As its investigation continued, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recovered two black boxes Thursday afternoon.
“People with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities”
In a press briefing, Mr. Trump implied that DEI initiatives, set under the Biden administration, were contributing factors to Wednesday’s deadly American Eagle Bombardier CRJ700 collision with a US military Sikorsky H-60 helicopter.
The President remarked that, “a group within the FAA determined that the workforce was too white, then they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately.”
Despite the President stating at the beginning of the press briefing that the factors that led up to the crash were unknown, he doubled down that the FAA wanted “people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities” to be “air traffic controllers.” The President also explained that race or gender “may have” played a role in the collision, and said his “common sense” concluded the unproven claims.
Read More US DOT New Head Announces End To Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policies The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a branch of the DOT, still does not have an Administrator or a Deputy Administrator.
On his second day in office last week, Mr. Trump ordered the immediate end to DEI programs, citing that it “penalizes hard-working Americans who want to serve the FAA but are unable to do so, as they lack a requisite disability or skin color,” according to NBC News.
Buttigieg slams the President
The speculative comments drew backlash from top Democrats. Buttigieg, who served as Secretary of the Department of Transportation for the last four years, slammed the President on social media.
“Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also dismissed the President’s comments.