AOC v Elon Trump_01302025_1
AOC blamed the tragic Wednesday mid-air collision on President Trump and Elon Musk. MANDEL NGAN/ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed the tragic American Airlines and Army helicopter collision President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for gutting the Aviation Safety Committee.

In an X post shared on Thursday, AOC pointed fingers at the sitting president and head of the Department of Government Efficiency for the airplane collision that claimed 67 lives Wednesday night.

"I represent LaGuardia airport as well as workers for JFK," AOC started her post. "Trump gutted the Aviation Safety committee last week."

"Air traffic controllers - already understaffed - got Trump's 'buyout' this week with a 1 week ultimatum to decide. It's not DEI - it's him. And Elon too," she continued.

Her statement was in response to Trump telling reporters during a press briefing on Thursday that the crash "could have been" the result of diversity hiring.

"We've had a much higher standard than anybody else, and there are things where you have to go by brain power," Trump stated Thursday. "You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various very powerful tests that we put to use and they were terminated by Biden."

Trump added they are investigating the incident to further understand what caused it, adding that they are going to look for the "brightest, smartest and sharpest" air traffic controllers who are "psychologically superior" moving forward.

Originally published by Latin Times

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