Trump baselessly blames DEI and Democrats for Washington DC plane crash

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : Trump continued: "Brilliant people have to be in those positions, and their lives are actually shortened, very substantially shortened because of the stress where you have many, many planes coming into one target, and you need a very special talent and a very special genius to be able to do it."Asked if he would "fire some of the diversity hires in federal government", Trump said: "I would say yes.
54% : Trump returned to the lectern to claim that "very powerful tests" for competence in air traffic control were "terminated" by Joe Biden.
53% : "We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system," Trump said.
49% : ""We did not know what led to this crash but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," Trump continued.
47% : "And here's one," Trump said.
46% : "Trump also said Buttigieg, who is gay, ran the transportation department into the ground "with his diversity".
35% : "Trump also took aim at Pete Buttigieg, the former Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was transportation secretary under Biden.
31% : During a press conference on Thursday about the crash, Trump turned what might have been a sombre briefing into a baseless rant against DEI despite no evidence of a link with the plane crash.
29% : When pressed on his citation of DEI as a cause of the crash by reporters after his address, Trump said: "It just could have been."He also claimed that when he was president between 2017 and 2021 the US "had a much higher standard [in air traffic control] than anybody else", then accused the Biden administration of letting standards slip.
29% : Since returning to the White House earlier this month, Trump has made attacks on DEI policies in federal government a central and highly performative part of his rush of hardline executive orders.
26% : "More conventionally, Trump opened the briefing with a moment of silence, then lamented "a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions".
23% : Asked how he could so quickly decide diversity was to blame for the crash near Reagan National airport, Trump said: "Because I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately, a lot of people don't."Officials said 67 people died in the crash on Wednesday night, when a military Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet.
23% : "But Trump was keener to divert blame.
19% : "He was a disaster," Trump said.
12% : Donald Trump used the plane crash in Washington DC to attack his political enemies, claiming Democrats were responsible for declining standards in air traffic control and that the disaster "could have been" caused by diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies at the Federal Aviation Administration.
10% : Trump also mused about errors by the helicopter pilot.

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