Last Updated on February 3, 2025
Democrats and the corporate press are railing against President Donald Trump for calling attention to the failure of Biden,Obama-insituted diversity, equity and inclusivity initiatives within the Federal Aviation Administration following the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter into an American Airlines flight last week.
DEI hiring practices in air travel likely resulted in the incompetence of a feamile soldier crashing the helicopter into the plane, killing 67 people, Trump argued in a press conference in response to the tragic collision.
“I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. Only the highest aptitude. They have to be the highest intellect and psychological aptitude that were allowed to be qualified for air traffic controllers,” Trump said at a press conference Thursday.
The president explained that his his standards of competency of the people flying and helicopter controllers. are the “complete opposite” of what the Biden administration had in place.
“I can’t imagine that people with 20/20 vision can’t see what’s happening out there,” Trump said.
The American Airlines pilot “was doing everything right,” he continued, and “for some reason, you have a helicopter at the same height and going at an angle. It was unbelievably bad. It just kept going. It made a slight turn, but it was too late. It shouldn’t have been at the same height because if you weren’t at the same height, you could’ve gone under it or over it,” he continued. “As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly. Really, we are in mourning. This has really shaken a lot of people.”
🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump has just ordered an assessment of damage done to aviation by the Biden administration’s DEI policies
It also orders the FAA to immediately elevate competence over “diversity” in hiring practices
WHY is this even controversial?! pic.twitter.com/BlxKnJFGmE
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 30, 2025
The plane was on approach to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport shortly before 9 p.m. ET. last Wednesday when Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach crashed the Black Hawk Army helicopter into American Airlines Flight 5342, with 60 passengers and seven crew aboard.
The helicopter was on a training flight with a crew of three based out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
The Army initially refused to identify Lobach at the request of her family, then released her name “at the request of and in coordination with the family,” the Army said in a statement.
How the Blackhawk crashed into the American Airliner jet — making for the worst airplane disaster in decades — is still a mystery.
Lobach was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and had served since July 2019, the Army states.
All of Lobach’s social media accounts were entirely scubbed before the family publicly disclosed her identity.
@USArmy pilot Rebecca Lobach’s entire social media nuked https://t.co/WCqFeG1fEp pic.twitter.com/wFlIvNuBqh
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) February 1, 2025
Lobach, one of the three-person crew inside the UH-60 Black Hawk, had 450 hours of flying experience and recently worked as a White House social aide during the Biden administration.
Last month, she escorted fashion designer Ralph Lauren at the White House when he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Democrats in tandem the mainstream media are relentlessly slamming Trump for claiming the crash was related to incompetency and the the bigotry of low expectations instituted in DEI initiavies.
Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts warned Trump’s suggestion that DEI was to blame for the crash is “shameful, deplorable, and disgusting, but nothing new. …They blame DEI for everything.”
“At a time of tragedy when [Trump] should be a salve and a balm, and a source of confidence for these grieving families, and for the country, this is what he does,” Pressley said. “More of the same…We’re going to have to match his energy,” Pressley told GBH News’ Boston Public Radio Thursday.
Trump’s remarks were “irresponsible,” Michigan Democrat Sen. Gary Peters wailed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“Quite frankly, I think it’s absolutely irresponsible to be putting out theories of what may have happened,” Peters said. “Let’s get to the facts, and the facts will come out fairly quickly. We’ll have to have a full investigation, which will take some time, but we’ve got to let that process.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is “a highly professional group of individuals,” he continued. “We’ve got to stick to the facts and not allow these conspiracy theories and other things to stoke fear or uncertainty out there.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served in the Biden administration lambasted Trump on X, formerly Twitter, calling the president’s theories “despicable.”
“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg posted. “President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, condemned Trump in a statement as well.
“Listen, it’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracies, it’s another for the President of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified. It just turns your stomach,” Schumer said. “In the meantime, we are keeping the families and loved ones of the victims in our prayers. And we are keeping our brave first responders in our prayers as well.”
And of course, their sentiment of the Democrat lawmakers were echoed in headlines and reports by corporate press.
“Trump jumps right to the blame game over DC midair collision that left dozens dead,” blares CNN.
Daily Beast assures the “Female Pilot in Crash Trump Blamed on DEI Was Top 20% Cadet.”
“The brilliant Army career” of the female helicopter pilot who crashed into the plane “had been in the top 20 percent of Army ROTCH cadets nationwide,” the publication notes, glorifying her work with the Biden White House.
“Her awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon,” Daily Beast continues.
The Associated Press featured report slamming Trump for his “rant about diversity initatives in the air traffic controller ranks,” warning the president has “only aded to social media speculation, misinformation and vitriol about the makeup of the Black Hawk crew.
“No evidence has emerged that diversity rules factored into the collision,” the AP reports alongsides statements from her Lobach’s friends assuring she was “brilliant and fearless” and “meticulous in everything she did.”
Just days before the plane and helicopter crash, Trump fired the heads of the TSA and eliminated the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, saying it was done as a part of a “commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”
Trump issued an executive order to on day 1 of his second term to “terminate” the federal government’s DEI programs, initiatives that were instituted under the guise of promoting “fair” treatment and full participation of historically underrepresented groups.
