STOMACH CHURNING

Dems: Trump’s Plane Crash DEI Rant is Stomach-Churning

And some are even turning the tables, blaming Trump’s hiring freezes for jeopardizing aviation safety.

Democrats are excoriating President Donald Trump for his “grotesque” claim that federal agency diversity requirements caused the deadly midair collision over the Potomac River Wednesday night.

“Listen, it’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday. “It’s another for the president of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified.”

“It just turns your stomach,” Schumer added.

BLAMING YOU, AND YOU, AND YOU

Trump Consoles Nation After Plane Crash by Blaming Everyone

Josh Fiallo

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, where Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is located, went further.

He suggested Trump’s actions in firing all members of an aviation safety advisory panel jeopardized the security of aviation.

Trump focused on politics in his first pubic speech to console the nation following Wednesday night’s tragedy, taking particular aim at the polices of previous Democratic administrations.

“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,” Trump said Thursday. “This was in the Obama administration.”

Trump claimed, “They actually came out with a directive: too white.”

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen joined Schumer in rebuking Trump, calling the president’s remarks “outrageous” and “grotesque.”

Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin criticized Trump for blaming “everyone but himself.”

“The buck stops with him. Bodies are still being pulled up from the Potomac and he is trying to blame everyone but himself. Sick,” he said in a post, which he apparently later took down.

When asked how he could possibly blame diversity hiring for the fatal midair collision between a regional American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter, Trump said, “Because I have common sense.”

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the comments “despicable,” asserting that the agency “put safety first” during his tenure.

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he wrote on X. “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.”

Rep. Norma Torres of California faced similar backlash from Republicans for casting blame on Trump’s hiring freeze following the deadly crash.

“This post is in incredibly poor taste and beneath the dignity of your office,” former GOP Rep. Peter Meijer tweeted in response to Torres’ post.

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Juliegrace BrufkeSenior Political Correspondent

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