Trump: people with severe intellectual disabilities" had been hired as air traffic controllers

[Demovictory9]

Jan. 30, 11:30 a.m. ESTTrump, in a press briefing, boasted about an executive order he issued last week ending diversity, equity and inclusion hiring within the Federal Aviation Administration, and suggested without proof that people with “severe intellectual disabilities” had been hired as air traffic controllers under the Obama and Biden administrations. He said only “naturally talented geniuses” would be hired for the job under his new policies. He later said “we don’t know that necessarily (the crash) is even the controller’s fault.”

When asked how he could have determined diversity hiring practices were to blame for the crash without evidence, Trump said, “because I have common sense. And, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/01/30/dc-plane-crash-live-updates-trump-criticizes-faas-dei-hiring-policies-and-suggests-without-evidence-they-could-be-to-blame/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Don't know about that, but I do know that one with 'severe intellectual disabilities' is in the White House.

[HAB911]

2. Then maybe a sickout is in order?

[Rebl2]

57. No

If they do that he will pull a Ronald Regan and fire all that do that. It will cripple the airline industry.

[HAB911]

58. Exactly what I would like to see happen

[snowybirdie]

3. He just

made many attorneys representing families very happy

[Walleye]

4. For all, we know, it could've been been a mechanical problem for crying out loud

He keeps saying common sense. So is it common sense to elect a pathological liar and a convicted felon to the presidency. Doesn’t strike me as common sense.

[VMA131Marine]

9. Well, I suppose that

The spinning rotors of the Blackhawk helicopter intersecting with the fuselage of the regional jet could be considered a mechanical problem …

But it hardly caused the accident.

I’m afraid the cause of the mishap is going to largely come down to the crew of the Blackhawk not seeing g and avoid the American flight as that was there responsibility. There will most likely be contributing factors that put the two aircraft on a collision course in the first place.

I, for one, do not want to fly in an environment where ATC is populated by people hired strictly for their loyalty to Trump.

[Walleye]

11. You're probably right, but my point was we don't know for sure. Why is it being politicized?

[iemanja]

15. Because he knows he fucked up by firing the head of TSA

and shutting down the safety committee.

[Codifer]

21. When he

de-regulates everything every plane trip will be a wild surprise party.

Won't that be fun.

Oh, and don't drink the water.

[orangecrush]

46. Heard the comms between Blackhawk and tower

Blackhawk said it had visual on plane.

Most likely pilot had visual on the wrong plane, according to retired pilot analyst .

[VMA131Marine]

54. I think that's likely...

But the Blackhawk was also well above the 200 ft maximum altitude for that corridor. Without that deviation the accident would not have occurred.

Was it common practice by military flights to bust the altitude restriction? I guess we will find out.

[orangecrush]

59. Looks like it.

BTw, I once worked with 3 Marine Corps gentlemen who were in aviation. Two were helicopter mechanics, one was a door gunner in I Corps in Vietnam. I typed up a request for his discharge papers so he could apply for veterans programs. (This was in the 80's.)

I had the misfortune of being the clerk in this particular garage. You know what happened - non stop practical jokes.

Good times.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Common sense tells him someone with severe disabilities caused the crash?

[durablend]

20. Well it's true

He can look in the mirror to see

[Irish_Dem]

22. I was going to add that.

But I figured someone else would do it for me.

[Solly Mack]

6. Racism/sexism is "common sense".

Typical white supremacist.

Some ignorant bullshit white supremacists have been spouting for decades.

[surfered]

7. I think the people hired a president with severe intellectual disabilities.

[Botany]

8. Where is our "liberal media?"

Ask Trump to give one solid example of people with “severe intellectual disabilities” being hired as air traffic controllers.

[sakabatou]

10. He'll just come up with some bullshit

Picking a name out of a hat, or pointing to a dedicated, well trained, and normal officer.

[Botany]

16. And in Fox News, Radio Hate Talkers, and right wing web sites will spread the lie as a truth.

See Hillary Clinton and her emails or w bush & Dick Cheney and their misinformation about
Saddam having WMDs so we could steal their oil and Dick Cheney could become a billionaire
on Halliburton/KBR no bid cost plus contracts.

[Nevilledog]

50. It's a Trump policy from April 2019

They've scrubbed this page but it was archived

[yaesu]

12. people with severe intellectual disabilities are now running the white house. nt

[Norrrm]

13. If you know that as a fact, it is your responsibility to identify and fire them.

[Kingofalldems]

14. The white hoods are out in the open now.

[Demovictory9]

24. And JD and Hegseth followed up with "DEI", "merit based" backup

[orangecrush]

47. Got that right

[Raven123]

17. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen

[demosincebirth]

18. He just described himself

[obamanut2012]

19. Experts listening to the tape and seeing the video say it is not the ATC's fault

[C_U_L8R]

23. Apparently, brain worm is infectious

And the White House is suffering quite an infestation.

[jaxxon20]

37. Brain worm cruelty

If a worm entered trump's brain it would starve to death!

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. Oh, my. This is getting just plain bizarre.

It really is like watching a movie about spies and counter spies. Every day gets worse.

I feel a giant clusterfuck coming on.

[spanone]

26. Blame it on the weakest. I believe Hitler did the same.

[tulipsandroses]

27. What he said is despicable. If it turns out all the controllers, the helicopter pilot and trainee are all straight white

men, will he stand by that statement?
It is beyond disgusting that instead of consoling the nation, he's spewing bigoted garbage.

[unblock]

28. he's saying all women and minorities have "severe intellectual disabilities"

and he'll judge if people are "naturally talented geniuses" based on the whiteness of their skin.

that's all the data he has to go on, so that has to be it.

[no_hypocrisy]

29. Then how do you explain no plane accidents for at least 10 years

until yesterday?

[lame54]

30. When Trump's sense becomes common...

We're through the looking glass

[Lars39]

31. Vile POS

[Takket]

32. I'm sure all the air traffic controllers really appreciate being told they have "intellectual disabilities"

[greatauntoftriplets]

33. What a load of crap.

Hmmm. Does the DC air traffic control direct Air Force One when the asshole flies?

[yourout]

34. No they don't. They all get talked into running for Republican seats and Congress.

Or the Senate or the presidency or the SCOTUS

[Ritabert]

35. We know "severe intellectual disabilities" and it "ain't"

....air traffic controllers. They go through rigorous screening and training. My mother was an air traffic controller for the Navy in WWII and later Pan Am and was extremely competent.

[mwmisses4289]

36. It has common sense?!?

Excuse me while i
It wouldn't know common sense if it bit him on his ample butt!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

38. The airport traffic controllers were understaffed at the time of the office

[GoCubsGo]

42. The "drown the government in a bath tub" crowd strikes again.

[ananda]

39. Sez someone with a severe mental disability!

!@#$%

[LetMyPeopleVote]

40. TFG is lying to deflect his responsibility for this accident

[GoCubsGo]

41. More projection.

The ones with "severe intellectual disabilities" are himself and every last one of the people surrounding him. Fuck that fucking fuck.

[GoodRaisin]

43. The President is a buffoon.

He takes every opportunity to reinforce this unfortunate reality. He did it again today.

[Rebl2]

44. Trump

Is the one with severe brain damage!

[Ms. Toad]

45. The FAA under Trump had virtually identical language and hiring practices.

From a page near the end of Trump's first term (December 2020): https://web.archive.org/web/20201208125057/https:/www.faa.gov/jobs/diversity_inclusion/

Fact checking: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/30/politics/faa-disability-hiring-trump-fact-check/index.html

The Trump-era FAA had the same language on its website: The FAA’s language encouraging the hiring of people with disabilities, including intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, was featured on the agency’s website throughout Trump’s first presidency and at least as far back as 2013, as the fact-check website Snopes has previously reported. You can click here for the version of the web page captured by the Internet Archive in December 2020, the last full month of Trump’s first term.

The Trump-era FAA also pushed to hire people with disabilities: The federal government passed a law in 1973 that aimed to increase federal hiring of qualified people with disabilities. Like other government agencies, the Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA, had pushed since at least the George W. Bush administration to increase its hiring of people with certain “targeted disabilities” that create extra barriers to employment. Those include not only intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, but also deafness, blindness, paralysis and missing extremities.

[mysuzuki2]

48. Well, why not?

Since we hired a person with severe intellectual disabilities to be president

[Kid Berwyn]

49. "Common Sense"

Must be MAGA for “Racism.”

[malaise]

51. He has severe intellectual disabilities

That is all

[Lovie777]

52. STFU.....

[louis-t]

53. Yeah, well the morons in this country elected someone

with severe intellectual disabilities.

[kacekwl]

55. Can you

imagine if any previous president held a press conference and said the things trump said. The calls for immediate resignation would be non-stop. Headline news for days. Not this asshole once again he gets a free pass. These day of course this would only apply to a democrat.

[Rebl2]

56. That's

BS