Rep. Gabe Amo criticizes Trump for DEI-plane crash link

Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.) on Sunday criticized President Trump for tying diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices to the plane crash near Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport.

Trump, at a press conference Thursday, said it was not clear the air traffic controllers made any mistake but also suggested diversity initiatives have weakened the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” Chris Stirewalt asked Amo how to explain the “major problems” with the FAA if not by DEI practices.

“Well, I reject the premise that DEI is the place to start in addressing this. We need a robust investigation, both from the NTSB and I expect my colleagues in Congress to do the same,” Amo said.

“But let’s be very clear, it is beneath the office of the president — having worked for two, I feel pretty strongly about this — that we would hear a claim that the identity, without any knowledge, would play a role in… [this] crash is just absolutely ridiculous,” he continued.

“And so, I believe that we need to move forward in a real investigative process, and I’m offended on behalf of millions of Americans who are simply trying to mourn and respond to this incident rather than another attempt from the President to divide us. That is not the responsibility of that office.”

Trump was pressed by reporters at his Thursday press conference about his claims that diversity had something to do with the crash and asked how he could come to that conclusion without having evidence.

“Because I have common sense, okay? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t,” Trump responded.  “We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level. When you have 60 planes coming in during a short period of time, and they’re all coming in different directions, and you’re dealing with very high-level computer, computer work and very complex computers.”

The cause of the crash between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter Wednesday night is still unknown, and investigative authorities have not publicly indicated who could be responsible for the crash.

The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns NewsNation.