I know some of this has been brought up in various comment threads, but I think several aspects of Trump’s response to the tragic collision of an American Airlines jet and military helicopter near Reagan National Airport are worth highlighting.
First, Trump’s initial comment on Truth Social about the event made me think of his claim about a “revolution of common sense” in his inaugural address.
First, this is just all irresponsible public speculation/blathering by the President of the United States at a moment of crisis. This is not how a leader, let alone the president should be behaving. If readers will pardon me from waxing overly eloquent for a moment: NOT GOOD!!!
Second, it sounds like the kind of thing a person who thinks that the world needs more “common sense” would say (usually at the end of the bar nursing a beer while commenting on breaking news on the television or similar circumstances). I mean, sure, the obvious question is why it was not possible for the two vehicles to avoid one another, but life isn’t so simple as to just ask, “Why didn’t they just not have an accident?” Definitionally, some mistake or other aspect of the situation led to the collision.
We need experts, in this case the NTSB, to figure out what went wrong. The reason that such accidents are rare is that they take them seriously and thoroughly investigate each such incident to learn what happened so as to avoid future tragedies (see occasional OTB commenter Cheryl Rofer’s post at LGM for more on this point). We don’t learn from off-the-cuff speculation.
Speaking of the role of experts, I would note that the NYT reported the control tower was understaffed:
The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.
Now, this may or may not be relevant. But here’s what I do know: two would have been better than one. And, moreover, all of us want adequate staffing of control towers when we fly. Remember that fact when President Trump and his cronies are deriding federal employees and worrying more about loyalty to Trump or to ideological goals than to the important work they do.
And speaking of ideological goals, I would note as well the immediate attempts to link all of this to DEI, as has been the lazy go-to of many on the right wing (as they did with the crash at the Baltimore bridge and the fires in LA, to name two other cases off the top of my head).
For example, Representative Ogles (R-TN):
Let’s be clear-eyed here: the implication is that non-whites were given jobs that more qualified whites (likely male) should have gotten. But the main way we can all “know” that an “inferior” hire was made is if we find out that the person who got the job is of color, female, or somehow not just a plain ol’ “normal” white guy.
Such assertions, while couched in “meritocracy” rhetoric is all about asserting the superiority of white people. For example, here’s Trump:
“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.”
No doubt supporters will just say he wants to hire “the best” so what’s the big deal? The big deal is, as noted, the clear assertion that programs that increase diversity don’t hire the best because they focus on increasing non-white, non-male hires.
Look, we can debate whether this DEI program or that has appropriate components or how efficacious it is.* But let’s face facts, going back decades-long arguments over affirmative action or any assertion that systemic racism is real, the bottom line argument made by most anti-diversity advocates is the assertion the color-blind hires that just so happen to hire mostly white males just confirms that white males are superior to other non-white, non-males rather than maybe, just maybe, reflecting other, deeper problems with discrimination.
Also, just like with the CRT hysteria, the DEI attacks are not about specific policies and procedures. It is all about a broad attack on any process that tries to recognize that
A key tell is the immediate jump after any tragedy (or just bad outcome) to shout, “It’s DEI’s fault!” without any evidence. This reveals the internal thinking (and inherent prejudice) of the person making the claim. Some readers have questioned whether Trump has an ideology. While he is clearly not a deep thinker, he clearly is guided by white supremacism.
More from Trump via the AP, Trump was challenged after blaming DEI for the DC plane crash. Here’s what he said (and I recommend reading the whole thing).
Q: “Are you saying this crash was somehow caused as the result of diversity hiring? And what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”
TRUMP: “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a much higher standard than anybody else. And there are things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden. And Biden went by a standard that seeks the exact opposite. So we don’t know. But we do know that you had two planes at the same level. You had a helicopter and a plane. That shouldn’t have happened. And, we’ll see. We’re going to look into that, and we’re going to see. But certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior. And that’s what we’re going to have.”
And apropos of my point above, the BBC reported the following.
Asked by a reporter how he could blame diversity programmes for the crash when the investigation had only just begun, the president responded: “Because I have common sense.”
The cherry on the irresponsibility sundae is a memo from the White House with the subject line, “Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety” (which, again is not how any of this works).
Consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of January 21, 2025 (Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation), I am further ordering the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (Administrator) to review all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made during the prior 4 years, and to take such corrective action as necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety, including the replacement of any individuals who do not meet qualification standards. This review shall include a systematic assessment of any deterioration in hiring standards and aviation safety standards and protocols during the Biden Administration.
These are the actions of irresponsible ideologues, not of people who are serious about effective government.
Some additional examples of blaming the crash on DEI.
In regards to Lara Trump, it is a rich case of utter lack of self-awareness to say that the best person should always be hired for the job. For anyone who is missing the point: she got here job because of nepotism, not her qualifications.
*To be clear, I am not saying that any and all opposition to DEI in general or that critiques of specific DEI programs equals white supremacist thinking. But I am saying that if a person’s reflexive response to a tragedy/accident is to blame diversity programs or to assume that any non-white person (or even non-male) is likely inferior is very much revealing a view that whites are “normal,” and likely qualified while non-whites are a deviation and very likely unqualified.
I would note that all of the examples provided above are of people jumping to conclusions, without evidence, that somehow programs that promote diversity promote inferiority and therefore lead to tragedy.
