Following a deadly plane crash between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near the US capital, Washington DC, which reportedly claimed the lives of dozens, President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring practices of his predecessors, former President Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“We must maintain the highest standards for those working in our aviation system,” Trump said during a media briefing at the White House. He claimed that when he took office, he raised hiring standards from those implemented under Obama.
“Under my administration, only the highest aptitude, the greatest intellect, and psychologically superior individuals were allowed to qualify as air traffic controllers,” Trump stated. “I always believed this job required exceptional intelligence.”
However, Trump provided no evidence linking the Obama- and Biden-era hiring practices or diversity initiatives to the crash, nor did he suggest that factors like race, gender, or ability played a role in the incident. He also did not specify when the air traffic controllers involved were hired, or their race or gender.
The white house said in a statement that the incident “follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “
The statement added that “the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous “diversity equity and inclusion” tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with “severe intellectual” disabilities in the FAA.”
On Thursday, authorities said that 67 people were killed in the collision, and over 30 bodies were recovered from the Potomac River.