Rep. Hakeem Jeffries rips Trump for ‘peddling lies’ about American 5342 crash

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries connected Friday ripped President Trump for his evidence-free effort to blasted the clang of American Airlines Flight 5342 connected diverseness initiatives.

The Democratic House Minority Leader successful his weekly property conference called retired Trump for claiming that alleged “DEI” efforts successful hiring of aerial postulation controllers could person caused the crash, adjacent though there’s nary grounds that immoderate power operation nonaccomplishment was to blame.

“There is not a scintilla of grounds that exists to suggest that women and radical of colour are to blasted for the calamity that took place,” Jeffries said. “And it was shameful.”

In this representation provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, wreckage is seen successful the Potomac River adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 successful Washington. (Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles, U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

Jeffries trashed Trump and his allies for utilizing the clang that killed 67 radical adjacent Reagan National Airport to score inexpensive governmental points.

“While radical are suffering, utmost MAGA Republicans are peddling lies and attacking radical of colour and women without immoderate ground whatsoever,” helium said. “This is not America. The American radical merit better.”

Fellow Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, accused Trump of seeking to “capitalize connected this calamity by furthering his racist, insane agenda.”

The greeting aft the crash, Trump raged against alleged “DEI” measures and sought to constituent fingers astatine erstwhile President Biden and ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for the midair collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, contempt his ain admittance that helium has nary grounds to backmost up his bile.

Trump initially suggested the unnamed aerial postulation controller handling the formation was to blame. He aboriginal shifted to questioning wherefore the doomed Black Hawk aviator did not swerve to debar the level landing astatine 1 of the nation’s busiest airports precocious Wednesday.

On Friday, the commander-in-chief again seemed to blasted the chopper pilot.

“The Blackhawk chopper was flying excessively high, by a lot,” Trump wrote connected his societal media site. “That’s not truly excessively analyzable to understand, is it?”

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration accidental don’t yet cognize what mightiness person caused the crash.

The airplane’s achromatic container has been recovered and should shed much airy connected the last moments of the different unremarkable formation from Wichita, Kansas.

The FAA has indefinitely closed routes adjacent Reagan National Airport to astir chopper postulation arsenic the probe gets underway successful earnest.

A preliminary FAA study noted that the power operation was abbreviated staffed astatine the clip of the clang and 1 aerial postulation controller was handling some planes and helicopters, which would usually beryllium tasks for 2 workers.

Rescue workers person already pulled much than 40 bodies from the icy waters of the Potomac River wherever the airplane and the chopper some crashed aft exploding successful a fireball from the collision.