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Trump blames DEI, Dems for D.C. plane crash

President Donald Trump
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump made these remarks while speaking in the White House press briefing room.

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While speaking in the White House press briefing room, President Donald Trump stated that diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives "could have been" the reason to blame for the midair collision between a plane and a helicopter in Washington D.C.

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On Wednesday, Jan. 29, a commercial American Airlines flight with 60 passengers and four crew members people aboard collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter with three military officials in midair over the Potomac River, as reported by CNBC. Though rescue teams are still recovering bodies from the Potomac River, the latest reported updates indicate that 67 people are believed to be dead. CNBC also highlighted that is the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001.

On Thursday morning, Trump held a press conference where he first expressed condolences for the victims. However, the president then suggested that DEI hiring could be one of the reasons for the fatal collision.

Trump said:

"We have to have our smartest people. It doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters intellect. Talent. The word talent. They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses. You can't have regular people doing that job, they won't be able to do it."

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Trump continued the briefing by bringing up articles that allegedly appeared prior to his entering office. According to CBS News, the president alleged that the Federal Aviation Administration's diversity push included "a focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities."

These reports read in the White House press conference imply that those DEI hires were responsible for this crash, though no evidence of that has been provided, and no one has yet been named responsible for the collision.

When asked if the crash was the result of DEI hiring, Trump responded: "It could have been." Another reporter subsequently asked Trump how he had reached the conclusion "that diversity had something to do with this crash." The president replied:

"Because I have common sense, okay? Unfortunately, a lot of people don't."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not have a permanent head at the time of yesterday's crash. Former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20 — the day President Trump took office.

Today, Trump appointed former senior FAA official Chris Rocheleau as the acting head of the FAA. Installation of a new permanent head of the FAA requires confirmation from the Senate.

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