section_path: Responses/Domestic/Response to Trump's comments
section_name: Response to Trump's comments
paragraph_text: Response to Trump's comments
  
  Trump received pushback and criticism for his claims that DEI initiatives were to blame for the crash, including by Buttigieg, who said that Trump's claims were "despicable" and that he should be "leading, not lying". Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota criticized Trump for "blaming this deadly crash on minorities and white women" and that the comments were "disgusting, racist and sexist". Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also criticized Trump's remarks, calling them "idle speculation". Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen criticized Trump by stating that he was "making a political show out of this awful tragedy" about the crash. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut stated that Trump was "blaming Black people and blaming women who work at the FAA without any evidence." Representative Jesús "Chuy" García of Illinois stated that Trump was "exploiting disaster to continue to spread racist lies and divisiveness across the country." Sully Sullenberger responded to Trump by stating that "an airplane cannot know or care" about a pilot's race or gender but can only care about "what control inputs are made" and that he was "disgusted" by Trump's comments.
  
  Meanwhile, Trump administration officials agreed with his claim that such policies may have caused the crash. Vice President JD Vance said, "When you don't have the best standards in who you're hiring, it means on the one hand, you're not getting the best people in government. But on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there." Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, said, "We can only accept the best and the brightest in positions of safety," while Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of Defense, said, "The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department and we need the best and brightest," including in "our air traffic control." Duffy also said, "What I've seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely." Hegseth also said that the helicopter crew was "fairly experienced," and undergoing "routine annual retraining—night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity-of-government mission." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt supported Trump's claim by stating that it was "common sense" to be concerned about potential negative effects of DEI initiatives.