President Donald Trump blasted Democratic politicians — including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg — and diversity policies as contributing factors in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 during a Thursday press conference.
The president began his press conference with a poignant message on the crash, which killed at least 67 people on Wednesday night. There were no survivors.
“We’re all overcome with the grief for many who have so tragically perished will no longer be with us together,” Trump said. “We take solace in the knowledge that their journey ended, not in the cold waters of the Potomac but in the warm embrace of a loving God.”
He then went on the offensive, suggesting that while officials are still “searching for answers,” he had “some very strong opinions and ideas” on what led to the helicopter collision.
That included diversity hiring policies spearheaded by Buttigieg, who just exited as the head of the Department of Transportation. Trump pointed to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website — which he said Buttigieg oversaw — saying “diversity is integral to achieving” safe and efficient travel. “I don’t think so,” Trump said.
He then sarcastically called Buttigieg a “real winner” before laying into him.
“He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground, and he’s a disaster. Now he’s just got a good line of bulls–t,” Trump said. “The Department of Transportation is [the] government agency charged with regulating civil aviation. Well, he runs it, 45,000 people, and he’s run it right into the ground with his diversity. So I had to say that it’s terrible.”
Buttigieg responded to Trump shortly after on X, writing, “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying.”
He added that when he was leading the Department of Transportation, it “had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”
Earlier in the press conference, Trump pointed to recent press clippings that highlighted how federal agencies were focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Here’s one,” he said, pointing to an article from earlier this month, “the ‘FAA diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.’ That is amazing.”
Trump continued: “Then it says ‘FAA says, people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in, and they want them they can be air traffic controllers.’ I don’t think so.”
The DEI emphasis from prior administrations, he noted, potentially led to a drop in safety standards. “I put safety first,” he said. “Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen, because this was the lowest level.”
Trump’s pick to succeed Buttigieg, Sean Duffy, was sworn in earlier this week. The president said he signed an executive order last week “restoring our highest standards for air traffic controllers and other important jobs throughout the country.”
This was the first commercial airline crash in the U.S. since 2009.
