On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” host Abby Phillip criticized President Donald Trump for blaming the deadly midair collision on DEI while “The bodies are still in the water, the families are still grieving. We don’t know what caused this.” And then also said it could be to distract from “very serious questions” over decisions like dismissing the head of the TSA and members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which advises the TSA.
Phillip began by saying, “This morning, as first responders were still frantically searching for the bodies in the icy waters of the Potomac, a sitting congressman rushed to television to assign blame. Now, for the next few hours, he received a mountain of backlash. But, believe it or not, that remark was minor compared to what the President of the United States said just hours later, when he made DEI the centerpiece of his message.”
She then stated, “The blame spectacle could be to take attention away from some of the very serious questions his administration is now facing, even if it’s just ten days into his administration. First, why did Trump wait to name an acting FAA administrator until now? The last one resigned before Trump took office after Elon Musk said he should because the two clashed over SpaceX oversight. And second, why did Trump fire the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard last week without a plan in place to replace them? He also fired members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. That’s a group that’s been around since the 1980s. And third, air traffic controllers are allowed to resign and accept that buyout that Trump is offering to millions of federal workers, again, without a plan to replace them.”
Phillip further stated, “This press conference was, as many things with Trump, shocking but not surprising. It’s in a way, a predictable response. But I guess the surprising part was how quickly it came. The bodies are still in the water, the families are still grieving. We don’t know what caused this. I think we could hazard to guess it’s probably not DEI.”
Later, after referencing Trump’s criticism of disability hiring policies, Phillip said, “I wonder, when he says that, does that try to deflect away from a certain kind of responsibility? Does that put more liability, perhaps, on individuals who are working in these roles at the FAA in air traffic control?”
After discussing the departure of the FAA administrator and offering buyouts to federal employees, she concluded, “The president is, obviously, entitled to make personnel changes. But roles like this, there should be replacements in place. And I think this is an incredibly telling moment for why that is so, so important.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
