Combative Trump blames diversity policies after air tragedy

Donald Trump stood earlier the White House property country cameras connected Thursday to execute a accepted statesmanlike work – consoler-in-chief during a clip of tragedy.

He said the state was successful mourning, shared his condolences during "an hr of anguish" and paid tribute to archetypal responders and the victims.

Then helium sharply pivoted - providing yet different reminder of however his caller presidency is going to beryllium precise different.

It volition beryllium combative. It volition beryllium unscripted. And it volition beryllium speedy to constituent the digit of blame.

"We bash not cognize what led to this crash, but we person immoderate precise beardown opinions and ideas," helium said.

He past speculated that lowered standards of hiring for aerial postulation controllers successful the Federal Aviation Administration during the Joe Biden and Barack Obama presidencies whitethorn person been a origin successful the disaster.

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Trump and his chap Republicans person regularly attacked "diversity, equity and inclusion" programmes successful the national government.

His squad has made undoing specified programmes a halfway portion of their archetypal days successful office, saying they person divided Americans and weakened the country.

And little than 24 hours aft the archetypal large US aerial catastrophe successful much than a decade, Trump – on with his secretaries of proscription and defence, and his vice-president – took turns hammering their point, adjacent arsenic they provided nary grounds that national hiring practices had immoderate transportation to this peculiar crash.

Asked by a newsman however helium could blasted diverseness programmes for the clang erstwhile the probe had lone conscionable begun, the president responded: "Because I person communal sense."

At different moments, helium acknowledged determination was nary confirmed cause, saying "it's each nether investigation".

Trump said the hiring guidance for the FAA's diverseness and inclusion programme included penchant for those with disabilities involving "hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, implicit paralysis, epilepsy, terrible intelligence disability, psychiatric disablement and dwarfism".

An archived mentation of a website for the FAA's diverseness and inclusion hiring programme that appears to person been taken down successful December included a akin list. The bureau was seeking radical with "targeted disabilities" that the national authorities was prioritising for recruitment astatine the time.

But it's unclear however that thrust to marque recruitment much divers whitethorn person impacted the ranks of aerial postulation controllers, who President Trump said needed to each beryllium "naturally talented geniuses". The FAA has much than 35,000 employees, lone a fraction of which execute that role.

In effect to criticisms implicit diverseness hiring practices past year, the bureau released a connection asserting that each caller hires indispensable conscionable "rigorous qualifications" that "vary by position".

The bureau has faced disapproval implicit a longstanding shortage of aerial postulation controllers, peculiarly aft the Covid-19 pandemic caused monolithic disruptions successful commercialized aerial travel.

Reports suggest that staffing levels astatine Reagan airdrome connected Wednesday nighttime whitethorn person been compromised.

In his remarks, Trump specifically blamed Biden medication Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom helium described with an obscenity and said had ran the section "into the ground".

Buttigieg defended his grounds connected societal media, calling Trump's comments "despicable". "As families grieve, Trump should beryllium leading, not lying," helium said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer besides criticised Trump's comments.

"It's 1 happening for net pundits to spew disconnected conspiracies, it's different for the President of the United States to propulsion retired idle speculation arsenic bodies are inactive being recovered," Schumer said.

Once helium departed from his prepared remarks, however, speculation was what President Trump seemed astir funny successful offering.

Along with his condemnation of DEI policies, helium offered extended treatment of the angles and elevation astatine which the 2 craft were flying, the upwind conditions connected Wednesday night, the somesthesia of the Potomac and the behaviour of the Army helicopter.

"We had a concern wherever we had a chopper that had an quality to stop," helium said. "For immoderate reason, it conscionable kept going."

But connected Thursday evening, the White House doubled down connected blaming his predecessor and DEI policies. The president signed a memorandum to extremity diverseness efforts successful the aviation assemblage and to reappraisal each hiring decisions and changes to information protocols made during the Biden administration. He besides signed an enforcement bid to name a caller caput of the FAA.

Two things were precise wide from Trump's remarks connected Thursday.

The archetypal is that his eagerness to inject himself into a large quality communicative is undiminished successful his caller term. And the 2nd is that successful his presumption it is ne'er excessively soon to inject authorities into nationalist calamity – and usage it to onslaught opponents and beforehand his agenda.