In a briefing that recalled his most extreme first term remarks, President Trump said without any evidence that diversity initiatives caused the midair collision.

The initial response from the White House was typical. Donald Trump is set to hold a press briefing on the crash at 11 a.m. on Thursday. At 10:51 p.m. on Wednesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement from the president.

President Donald Trump blamed former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden‘s aviation and diversity hiring policies after 67 people are presumed to be dead after a regional jet and a Blackhawk Army helicopter collided near a busy airport in Washington,

Dismantling DEI initiatives in both the public and private sectors have become a prominent target for Trump since he took office last week—but there’s no evidence they were a

There is no evidence that diversity efforts played a role in the crash, and his statements disregarded his own administration’s hiring policies.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized Trump on Thursday for his reaction to the devastating incident after Trump baselessly blamed the Biden administration’s policies for threatening air safety. Buttigieg called out the president for “lying” about the crash in a post on social media platform X.

He is out there blaming his predecessor, blaming women, blaming people of color—blaming anyone but himself,” says Chris Hayes on Trump’s response to the deadly plane crash on the Potomac River.