Trump implies DEI could be to blame for Washington, D.C., plane crash
In his first news conference since the aircraft collision over the Potomac River, President Donald Trump on Thursday implied that diversity, equity and inclusion programs could be the cause, although an investigation has only just begun into the fatal disaster.
At his first news conference since the aircraft collision over the Potomac River, President Donald Trump implied Thursday that diversity, equity and inclusion programs could be the cause, although an investigation into the fatal disaster has only just begun.
“We have to have our smartest people” as air traffic controllers, Trump said Thursday morning. “It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. ... They have to be talented, naturally talented. Geniuses. Can’t have regular people doing their job. We can’t have regular people doing this job. They won’t be able to do it, but we’ll restore faith in American air travel.”
Trump spent a considerable amount of time discussing the Federal Aviation Administration's DEI initiatives, particularly under Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. He cited the FAA's acknowledgment of the underemployment of employees with disabilities.
A week before he took office, Trump said that the FAA website said "people with severe disabilities are the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, that they want them" to be "air traffic controllers. I don’t think so."
Later Thursday, a White House memo said the Biden administration recruited "individuals with 'severe intellectual' disabilities in the FAA" under diversity, equity and inclusion hiring.
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