WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump faced swift backlash Friday after making racially charged remarks about the American Airlines plane crash in Washington, D.C. Democratic pollster and strategist Cornell Belcher condemned Trump’s comments, accusing him of degrading the dignity of his office by using the tragedy to push a divisive political agenda.
During a press conference addressing the midair collision between a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter—the first fatal commercial airline accident in the U.S. since 2009—Trump speculated, without evidence, that “diversity” programs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may have played a role. His comments ignited immediate outrage from critics who called them baseless and inflammatory.
Belcher was particularly blunt in his response. “America deserves better than what we witnessed this morning from Trump,” he wrote on Threads. “To use this tragedy to push a blatant, ugly racial, political agenda is absolutely appalling. It’s not okay. It’s abhorrent. It’s unimaginable that a president would stand before us and dishonor the role of the office this way. Not us.”
He urged Americans to unite against such rhetoric. “Let’s be unison and loud about how unacceptable it is to use national tragedies to divide us,” he concluded. Trump’s comments also drew criticism from lawmakers, who pointed out that if the federal government bears any responsibility for aviation safety issues, it is due to the staffing shortages at air traffic control centers and aviation safety agencies.
These shortages, they argue, were exacerbated when tech billionaire Elon Musk urged Trump to purge personnel from those agencies. The president has also been scrutinized for his overall handling of the disaster. At one point, he appeared more concerned with logistics than offering condolences, complaining that he might have to “go swimming” to visit the crash site.
As the investigation into the crash continues, critics argue that Trump’s response has done little to provide leadership or comfort in the wake of the tragedy. Instead, they say, his remarks have only served to deepen divisions and distract from the real issues facing the nation’s aviation safety infrastructure.