PITTSBURGH (KDKA Radio) — Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania says it’s too early to place blame after an American Airlines plane collided with a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, late Wednesday night.
President Donald Trump said during a news conference on Thursday that the cause of the crash is not known, but he placed blame on diversity, equality initiatives (DEI), along with former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
McCormick talked to KDKA Radio’s Marty Griffin after the news conference and said he did not see the president’s news conference but did say it’s too soon to make the crash political.
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“I think it’s too early for anyone to speculate on what happened,” McCormick said. “We’re still pulling bodies out of the water, so this is a moment where we mourn, this is a moment where we do everything we can to help the families involved and start the process of getting to the root cause of things. So, I’d be reluctant to assign any blame, any root cause, but we've got to get to the bottom of it and we got to get to it quickly.”
🎧 Sen. Dave McCormick on KDKA Radio
Trump was asked about DEI and if he was blaming the crash on it. He was also asked if there was any evidence to the claim.
“It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a much higher standard than anybody else,” Trump said.
He also claimed that “powerful tests” in regards to hiring air traffic controllers were “terminated by Biden.” There is no evidence that is the case.
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On the other side of the political aisle, there are some indicating that Trump’s freeze on hiring federal employees could have played a role in the accident. There is no evidence, as well.
McCormick called the tragedy near the nation's capital "horrible" and said he and his family are thinking about the families of the deceased.
Listen to the interview with McCormick above with Marty and his comments on how important it is that the public learns the truth about the accident.