Quotes
Every previous president in reacting to such events, such tragedies, has always begun with sympathy including the only president who could have been blamed for an accidental plane crash and wasn’t,
he declared before playing a 1982 clip of Reagan remarking on Lenny Skutnik, a bystander to the Air Florida crash Lenny Skutnik was the worst thing you can be in Donald Trump’s Washington,
said O’Donnell of the federal worker who became “an American hero” and served the government for decades before his retirement in 2010. It is the first time in history that a president in the United States has assigned blame for an aviation accident on his own, immediately, based entirely on his own profoundly, ignorant, prejudiced guess,
said O’Donnell of Trump, who blamed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for the midair collision There’s nothing about Lenny Skutnik — not his humility, not his heroism, nothing about him that Donald Trump could ever understand.”
O’Donnell weighed in on Skutnik’s quote I separate it into two parts,
He’s run it right into the ground with his diversity,
Trump said, adding profanity to his description of Buttigieg It’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories, it’s another for the president of the United States,
said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York We look at facts, on our investigation, and that will take some time,
said Jennifer Homendy, the board's chair While these events are incredibly rare, our safety system is showing clear signs of strain that we cannot ignore,
Homendy told lawmakers in 2023 It’s not your fault.” ... When Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination.” ... We will not accept excuses.”
Trump made a point to tell Duffy, who was sworn in on Tuesday as Buttigieg's replacement ... Duffy took the White House podium alongside Trump and declared ... Duffy added They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses,
All the processes to control and deconflict air traffic in the DC area have been well established for a long time,
The personnel involved in the accident – air crew from the two aircraft and the (air traffic controllers) in place at the time of the accident – would similarly not have been affected by
the recent policy changes in Trump’s executive orders since January 20. At this point, we don’t know enough,
When you talk about staffing issues, sure, the control room is a problem. But you know what else is a problem? That there’s no head of the FAA,
said the host of “The Five,” who noted that the last FAA chief Michael Whitaker stepped down after Elon Musk tried to “push him out” for months We have no head of the Coast Guard and, they have in the first week in office, gutted this key Aviation safety advisory committee.”
DEI is not a scapegoat for everything,
she said of the popular right-wing talking point These DEI policies were put in place in 2013, he had every opportunity through his first administration to revoke them if he thought they were terrible but he didn’t,
noted Tarlov, echoing a point made by NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander during Trump’s press briefing on the disaster They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent."
Accusing his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama of having kept good employees out of the aviation agency in pursuit of DEI, he claimed It could have been."
Asked again by reporters whether he was blaming workplace diversity for the crash, Trump answered
