Politics
Pritzker Says Trump ‘Unfit to Lead’ After President’s Response to Fatal DC Plane Crash
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pictured in a July 2023 file photo. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)
Citing Chicago’s role as a flight hub and “the thousands of people who fly in and out (of) Illinois every day (who) deserve to travel without fear of preventable disaster and danger,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said President Donald Trump is “unfit to lead during moments of crisis” like the helicopter and passenger plane crash that Wednesday night killed 67 people in Washington, D.C.
An American Airlines flight from Kansas that was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight collided. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River, and authorities report no one survived.
“While times of tragedy should be focused on mourning the victims and getting answers to their loved ones, we face the unfortunate reality that we must be honest with the nation about: Donald Trump is unfit to lead during moments of crisis like these,” Pritzker said in a Thursday evening statement, saying that “before victims have even been identified, Trump is blaming people.”
During a news conference about the tragedy, Trump held a moment of silence and offered support for victims’ families.
He then went on to blame diversity-oriented hiring policies from his Democratic predecessors, Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as the root cause of what went wrong in the skies. When pressed by reporters, Trump could not cite examples of unqualified hires.
His office later issued a memorandum to the new secretary of transportation and FAA administrator.
“This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),” reads the White House memo. “During my first term, my Administration raised standards to achieve the highest standards of safety and excellence. But the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring.”
The White House called for a review of hiring decisions and safety protocols.
“And to take such corrective action as necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety, including the replacement of any individuals who do not meet qualification standards,” the memo reads. “This review shall include a systematic assessment of any deterioration in hiring standards and aviation safety standards and protocols during the Biden Administration.”
Pritzker, in a statement, said Trump’s administration “must answer critical questions that are in the interest of the American public,” including those who fly on the more than 1,200 daily flights out of Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway international airports.
“Did (Trump advisor and confidant) Elon Musk play a role in the removal of the former FAA director who had bipartisan support?” Pritzker asked, and “Why was a replacement to lead the FAA not named until after the crash?”
Pritzker also asked whether Trump’s administration will cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board investigation “and correct any misinformation they spread about the crash?”
The governor has said he would be willing to work with Trump, but Pritzker has been highly critical of Trump’s first week and a half back in the White House, on issues such as sending immigration enforcement to Chicago to carry out deportations and a lack of communication with Illinois about those efforts.
Pritzker, who was a surrogate for Biden and later Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, is believed to have his own presidential ambitions.
During an unrelated event earlier Thursday, Pritzker said, “It hits me in my heart when I think about the families who got calls last night and this morning about a tragedy that just shouldn’t have happened” and called the crash a “terrible accident.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), a veteran and former Black Hawk pilot who now serves as Democrats’ top member of the U.S. Senate aviation safety subcommittee, also slammed Trump for blaming diversity, equity and inclusion for the fatal accident “while bodies are still being recovered.”
“Blaming DEI on this is to say that the aircrew of that Black Hawk did not earn their place in that cockpit,” Duckworth said during an interview on CNN. “They would not be in that cockpit unless they had earned their way there.”
Aviation experts estimate a thorough investigation into the causes behind the accident will take at least a year.
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
