A prominent Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), is blaming President Donald Trump for the recent devastating plane crash in Washington, D.C., suggesting that his action of freezing the hiring of federal employees played a key role in the tragedy. Crockett pointed to Trump’s political agenda, particularly in the aviation industry, as a contributing factor, arguing that the crash could have been prevented if stricter oversight had been in place. While the investigation is still ongoing, the remarks have sparked a fierce political debate, with Trump blaming the deadly crash on the left’s DEI initiatives, which hired based on gender and racial diversity rather than merit.
“As emergency responders continue to work to retrieve peoples’ loved ones from the site of the accident, our President—a man who is supposed to unify the country in times of tragedy—has instead used this moment to exploit their pain and grief to promote his political agenda,” Crockett said.
“During today’s White House briefing on the accident, Donald Trump, without any evidence, blamed the increased recruitment of diverse employees in our aviation system as the reason for this tragic crash. Let me be clear: Donald Trump has no evidence for these claims. But in a post-truth Republican world, the evidence doesn’t matter to Donald Trump: all that matters is how tragedy can be used to benefit his party and his career,” she continued.
Crockett then blamed the crash on Trump freezing the hiring of federal employees and Elon Musk “pushing out” the Chief of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Given these facts, I suggest that President Trump stop playing political games, end his attempts to freeze funding for our federal workforce and focus on attracting and hiring qualified, experienced aviation professionals to safeguard our skies and save passenger lives. And importantly, I suggest he show some decency and respect for the people grieving their lost loved ones - it is literally the very least he can do,” she added.
However, the White House’s Rapid Response social media account put Crockett in her place.
“Wrong. Federal air traffic controllers are EXEMPT from the hiring freeze. Stop lying,” the account wrote on X.
This follows a Squad member's dramatic reaction after CNN’s Scott Jennings reported that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass requested the city appoint an entire LGBTQ leadership team for the Los Angeles Fire Department. He questioned how much it matters what color the firefighters are when someone’s house is burning down.
In response, Crockett suggested hiring unqualified people of color over qualified white men is more important.
“There was an article that just came out that said actually, the most educated demographic in this country right now is Black women. So let me be clear: Because you are a woman or, because I know the right has been sharing some of these photos of the fact that the fire chief, I believe, may be a woman, that has nothing to do with it,” she said. “We are looking at qualifications where diversity, equity, and inclusion has always been about is saying you know what? Open this up. Don’t just look at the white men, open this up and realize other people can be qualified. The fact is, when people decide at a time when people are dying that a country of immigrants is failing or people are dying because the same very people that built this country – and the last time I checked, y’all didn’t say anything was wrong with the White House, and I can promise you it was my ancestors that built the White House.”