A Democratic California congresswoman and other liberals have claimed that president Donald Trump is to blame for the deadly mid-air collision in Washington DC.
‘I blame Donald Trump and his entire administration for this horrific crash and the deaths of all involved,’ Rep. Sydney Kamlager said on X of the tragedy that left 67 dead on Wednesday night.
‘This is what happens when you confirm incompetence and have such disdain for government. His government is trying to kill us, not keep us safe.’
The social media site BlueSky, where many liberals have fled in protest of Elon Musk’s X, was filled with posts blaming Trump for the catastrophe.
User Karly Kingsley said: ‘Just to recap: prices are worse, planes are colliding, we’ve been spitting on the Constitution, citizens have less rights then they did last week, we’re building concentration camps…BUT.. the good news is that children in schools are scared for a reason other than bullets for a change.’
Another user, who goes by ‘Democracy Skies in Blueness- Resist, added: ‘I’m not blaming Trump for last night’s plane crash but imagine if Biden fired 100 FAA officers a week prior to a plane crash. What would Fox News cover for the next two weeks?’
A third added: ‘I wonder what cocktail [new Secretary of Defense] Pete Hegseth was on when the military helicopter hit the AA plane?’
Trump, for his part, suggested on Thursday that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) were to blame for the crash.
The president asserted his opinion at the White House press briefing even though the crash has yet to be fully investigated and there has been no determination as to whether the FAA did anything wrong.
‘The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,’ said Trump, noting that the program allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and ‘dwarfism.’
Trump said air traffic controllers needed to be geniuses.
‘They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses,’ he said. ‘You can’t have regular people doing their job.’
Trump also harshly criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
‘That guy’s a real winner,’ Trump said sarcastically of Buttigieg, before adding, ‘He’s a disaster.’
Trump blamed federal diversity and inclusion promotion efforts he said were championed under Buttigieg for standards slipping. He used profanity to describe such efforts.
Despite Trump’s comments, there was no evidence that the FAA or air traffic controllers were responsible for the crash. Even Trump said the cause was unknown, saying, ‘We’ll get to the bottom of it.’
The collision happened at around 9 p.m. when a regional jet at the end of a flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training exercise, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could do so on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked a helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later, saying ‘PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ’ — apparently telling the copter to wait for the Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet to pass. There was no reply. Seconds after that, the aircraft collided.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac.
The passengers included figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita and two of their Russian coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Other Russian nationals in addition to Shishkova and Naumov were also on the plane, according to the Kremlin. Coaches, skaters and others had been at the championships, which concluded Sunday, and a development camp.
Shishkova and Naumov were married and won a 1994 world championship in pairs figure skating.
The body of the plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water, officials said. The helicopter’s wreckage was also found.
Authorities conducted a massive search-and-rescue operation that turned into a recovery mission.
Roughly 300 first responders were at the scene early Thursday. Inflatable boats were combing the river and first responders set up light towers along the shore to illuminate the area. Helicopters from law enforcement agencies throughout the region were also being used in the methodical search for bodies.
If everyone on board the plane did die, it would be the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years. At least 28 bodies had been pulled from the river’s icy waters as of mid-morning.