The Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized President Trump for casting blame for the fatal plane crash at Reagan Washington National Airport on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
The CBC offered it sympathies for the families impacted by the crash and thanked the first responders that arrived on the scene just minutes after the fatal crash before issuing a strong rebuke of Trump and Republicans.
“However, the opportunity to fully focus our sympathies on those who are in mourning and who may not have even retrieved their dearly departed was marred by a truly disgusting and disgraceful display of racist political prognostication,” the CBC said.
“President Trump, without evidence or regard for the gravity and solemnity of this incident in which American lives were lost, held a press conference to falsely blame the diversity initiatives of past administrations for the cause of this incident. Not only are the President’s claims untrue, they also speak to the Republican Party’s desire to divide us as a country.”
The CBC added that DEI are “American values.”
“Diversity policies work to benefit all Americans who have traditionally been kept out of opportunities, including white women, veterans, and aging Americans, not just the Black and minority communities that Trump and Republicans want to scapegoat and villainize for political gain.”
The remarks come after Trump blamed DEI programs for the crash, which occurred when an American Airlines regional plane collided midair with a Black Hawk helicopter just outside Washington, D.C. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the plane, and three troops on board the helicopter; 27 bodies have been recovered so far, with authorities saying they don’t expect there to be any survivors. It’s unclear what caused the crash.
Trump during a press conference earlier Thursday accused Presidents Obama and Biden of lowering the qualification standards for air traffic controllers and said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is “actively recruiting workers with severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.”
When asked how he could connect DEI to the tragic crash considering the ongoing investigation, Trump replied, “Because I have common sense.”
Black leaders were quick to condemn Trump’s comments.
“This is a tragedy that occurred above DCA airport,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Thursday.
“Lives have been lost. Families have been devastated. People are suffering, and the leader of this country decides to go out and peddle lies, conspiracy theories and attack people of color and women without any basis whatsoever. Have you no decency? Have you no respect for the families whose lives have been turned upside down?”
“President Trump twisted a terrible tragedy — while families are mourning their loved ones — to insert his own political agenda and sow division,” said Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.).
“This is not leadership. We need to investigate how this plane crash happened to give a sense of closure to grieving families and prevent future crashes. Trump would rather point fingers than look in the mirror and face the fact that he just cut a committee responsible for aviation security. The issue with our country is not its diversity. It’s the lack of leadership in the White House and unqualified Cabinet. Trump’s actions and words are dangerous, racist, and ignorant — simply un-American.”
Even some members of Trump’s own party seemed confused by his remarks.
When asked by The Hill about the president’s claims that DEI “could have been” to blame for the aircraft collision, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) responded, “Why would that be blamed? It’s obviously human error, and it’s horrifying.”
Civil rights organizations also denounced Trump’s comments, blasting him for the unfounded claims and accusing him of being callous at a time when families are grieving.
“For Donald Trump to blame DEI or Presidents Biden and Obama for this horrific event, while first responders are still pulling bodies out of the Potomac, is a callous disregard for the dozens of lost lives, their families, and their loved ones,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of National Action Network (NAN).
Sharpton added that an investigation is “barely underway,” and that the focus should be on the families experiencing “undoubtedly the darkest moment of their life.”
“It doesn’t matter if these were DEI hires or Ivy League hires. What matters is the families who are grieving, who do not want to see this moment politicized by a president bent on peeling back DEI policies,” Sharpton said. “This only goes to show President Trump wants to use Black, Brown, LGBTQ, disabled, or other disadvantaged Americans as the scapegoat for anything bad that happens in this nation.”
Trump has railed against DEI since he began his campaign for the White House. Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has issued executive orders calling on all federal DEI programs to be dismantled, including in the military.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said on Thursday he was “disgusted” by Trump’s “display of unpresidential, divisive behavior.”
“We’re proud to see thousands of first responders in the DMV region unify to support the enormous recovery efforts taking place on the Potomac,” Johnson said. “The President has made his decision to put politics over people abundantly clear as he uses the highest office in the land to sow hatred rooted in falsehoods instead of providing us with the leadership we need and deserve.”
