CNN’s aviation correspondent said he couldn’t help but put his “head” in his “hands” on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s bonkers blame game over the midair collision in Washington, D.C. that left 67 people dead.
Pete Muntean — in response to the president pointing to diversity hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration as a reason for the disaster — said far-right figures have referred to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as reason for the “degradation of safety” in aviation in the United States.
“But, frankly, the president is getting out ahead of his skis here,” Muntean told CNN host Pamela Brown after Trump’s chaotic briefing on the collision between a commercial passenger jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport.
“What he has said is not only unprofessional, unpresidential, inconsiderate of the status of this investigation, but, frankly, it is just unhinged that he could even say with any sort of certainty that diversity, equity, and inclusion policies had any part to play in this accident.”
Muntean, a pilot and flight instructor who once worked as a transportation reporter for D.C.’s CBS affiliate, stressed that 67 people were dead as the president’s comments came “not even 24 hours” and “barely even 12 hours” after the disaster.
“I hate to get so upset here but this is something that investigators will really need to pick apart piece-by-piece. And that is going to take some really significant time,” Muntean noted.
He later continued, “And he is saying with a lot of certainty that the blame is on DEI and the blame is in some ways on air traffic control and air traffic controller hiring.”
Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
Muntean then came to the defense of Pete Buttigieg, former President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary, after Trump claimed he ran his department “right into the ground” with his “bullshit.”
He argued that Buttigieg was “very hard” on aviation safety before he later turned to the “big bottom line”: the amount of vacantfederal government positions related to aviation safety.