Donald Trump is suggesting that diversity, equity, and inclusion policies are responsible for the deadly plane crash near Washington, D.C., that is believed to have taken the lives of 67 people.
The president made the troubling claim at a press conference Thursday morning—even as he immediately admitted he had zero evidence.
“The FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a Diversity and Inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website. Can you imagine?”
“Hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability, and dwarfism, all qualify for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country,” the president continued on, reading an FAA diversity program that existed under his own first administration.
Trump immediately made the conversation about DEI rather than focusing on what specific errors occurred or even waiting for a single shred of evidence to support his ludicrous claims to come out. It became overwhelmingly evident that Trump will lean on his DEI boogeyman as a scapegoat for anything that goes wrong with any federal agency during his term.
“We don’t even yet know the names of the 67 people who were killed and you’re blaming Democrats and DEI policies and air traffic control, and seemingly the member of the U.S. military who was flying that Black Hawk helicopter,” CNN’s Kaitlin Collins said to Trump. “Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of the investigation right now?”
“No, I don’t think so at all…. The names of the people, you mean the names of the people on the plane…. You think that’s gonna make a difference?” the president replied.
Trump was again pressed on his claims that DEI caused this fatal crash.
“I’m trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash,” another reporter asked.
“Because I have common sense, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t,” Trump replied. He then alleged that he was going to fix this issue in 2020 if the election hadn’t been “stolen” from him, as he is still convinced.
This statement places people of color, people with disabilities, and anyone who doesn’t fit into MAGA’s vision for America firmly into the crosshairs of the Trump administration. It’s a dark moment in time when our president is trying to convince us that DEI caused all of this, rather than simply honoring the memories of those lost in this horrific accident and committing to taking the proper next steps.
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