An American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night. No one survived the midair collision.
The initial response from the White House was typical. At 10:51 p.m. on Wednesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a totally appropriate statement from President Donald Trump.
“I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport,” it read. “May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
But less than two hours later, Trump hopped on Truth Social to throw out some wild speculation about the crash. He concluded, “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
The overall vibe from his Truth Social posts was more “conspiracist-in-chief” than “consoler-in-chief.” But hey, maybe Trump would pull it together for his Thursday morning press conference? Not quite!
Trump’s press briefing got off to a promising start. He asked for a moment of silence and read a well-written statement expressing sadness over the loss of life and vowing to thoroughly investigate the crash.
But within minutes, the “presidential” mirage dissolved. Trump unleashed an unusually appalling rant, blaming the crash on Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, DEI, and people with disabilities.
“I put safety first. Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” Trump said. “They actually came out with a directive: ‘too white.’ And we want the people that are competent.”
In case anyone was unclear, Trump later told a reporter that yes, he was saying diversity hiring could have caused the crash — though he has no evidence to support that outrageous claim.
After Trump spoke, his Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, explained that the motto of the new administration is “the best and the brightest — the most intelligent coming into these spaces.”
Present company excepted, it seems.
This post was updated after Trump’s press conference.
