President Donald Trump began his White House briefing Thursday with a moment of silence and a prayer for victims of Wednesday's crash at Reagan National Airport. But his remarks quickly became a diatribe against diversity hiring and his allegation — so far without evidence — that lowered standards were to blame for the

President Donald Trump blamed diversity hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration for Wednesday night’s deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C. — days after his new administration banned diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the federal government, including at the FAA.

But within minutes, the “presidential” mirage dissolved. Trump unleashed an unusually appallingly rant, blaming the crash on Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, DEI and people with disabilities.

Disability and civil rights advocates criticized Trump for implying the plane crash could be connected to government diversity programs.

Dismantling DEI initiatives in both the public and private sectors have become a prominent target for Trump since he took office last week—but there’s no evidence they were a