Trump Critiques Biden's DEI Policies Following Aircraft Incident
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Synopsis
US President Donald Trump criticized former President Joe Biden and DEI policies after a tragic aircraft collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. He suggested that hiring practices under previous administrations may have compromised safety, a claim met with skepticism and rebuke from political opponents amid ongoing investigations into the incident.
Key Takeaways
- Trump blames DEI policies for aviation safety issues.
- Calls for hiring the most qualified individuals for air traffic control.
- Criticism of past administrations' hiring practices.
- Ongoing investigations into the aircraft collision.
- Political backlash against Trump's comments from Democrats.
Washington, Jan 31 (NationPress) US President Donald Trump has taken aim at former President Joe Biden and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies after an American Airlines regional jet was involved in a collision with an Army helicopter while landing at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, situated just across the river from Washington, D.C.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Trump insinuated that individuals with “severe intellectual disabilities” had been appointed as air traffic controllers during the Obama and Biden administrations, attempting to hold his Democratic predecessors accountable for the incident, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
When pressed for evidence to substantiate his claim regarding the crash being linked to diversity hiring, Trump did not present any proof, asserting instead that he relies on “common sense”.
The President informed journalists that “it just could have been” influenced by DEI policies, further expressing a desire for “the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest” individuals to serve as air traffic controllers.
Trump received support from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who stated, “we can only accept the best and the brightest” in roles crucial to passenger safety. Additionally, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remarked: “The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department and we need the best and brightest.”
Vice-President J.D. Vance asserted, “We want to hire the best people … actually competent enough to do the job”, and claimed, without evidence, that numerous individuals had litigated against the US government because “they would like to be air traffic controllers, but they were turned away because of the colour of their skin.”
Following his inauguration on January 20, Trump swiftly rescinded the Biden administration’s DEI policies, pledging to abolish the government’s approach to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” aiming to create a “colourblind and merit-based” society.
In an executive order addressing aviation safety signed on January 21, Trump stated that the Federal Aviation Administration had compromised its mission by “elevating dangerous discrimination over excellence,” contending that “illegal and discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring, including based on race, sex, disability, or any other criteria other than the safety of airline passengers and overall job excellence, competency, and qualification, harms all Americans.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer promptly responded to the President's comments, saying, “It's one thing for internet pundits to spew up conspiracy theories. It's another for the President of the United States of America to throw out idle speculation even as victims are still being recovered, and families are still being notified. It turns your stomach.”
An investigation into the accident is currently being conducted by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Officials reported that 67 individuals lost their lives in the crash on Wednesday night, with 28 bodies retrieved from the Potomac River by late Thursday morning. The identities of the victims have been disclosed.
Since his return to the White House earlier this month, Trump has made denouncing DEI policies within the federal government a key and performative focus of his series of stringent executive orders.
