First responders search the wreckage of American Airlines flight 5342 along the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2025 (Michael A. McCoy/ NPR)
EA on London’s LBC: Trump Tries To Break the US Government
UPDATE, FEB 1:
I chatted with BBC West Midlands on Friday about Donald Trump’s damaging press conference, both in its insult of its victims of Wednesday night’s Washington air crash and in its pretext of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” to undermine politics, society, and the US system.
Listen from 2:20.31
He said the people who were flying the planes, the air controllers are not qualified because they have been chosen on the basis of their ethnicity or their gender.
How dare he say that in pursuit of a political agenda to blame everything on “woke culture”?
I understand how Trump could do this. I don’t understand how any decent or respectful US President could do so.
ORIGINAL ENTRY, JAN 31: I spoke with BBC Radio 5 Live about Donald Trump’s insults and lies over the Wednesday night air crash in Washington D.C. that killed 60 passengers, 4 crew, and 3 military personnel.
Listen to Discussion from 2:13.44
By coincidence, I was in Washington for a conference on the US and Ireland. So I was seated on the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and the Capitol, as I told the BBC’s Chris Warburton:
I’m heartbroken.
I’m heartbroken for those who died.
And I’m heartbroken that what should have been a Presidential statement of condolence, respect, and reflection turned into one of bitterness, insult, and retribution.
I explain how Trump lashed out at Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Democrats.
Most perniciously, he insulted those pilots who died, those air traffic controllers by saying they were unqualified, that they couldn’t do their jobs — all because he wants to hammer away at this punching bag of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” and make political capital out of it.
It’s inappropriate, it’s insulting, and it saddens me.
I also discuss the response in America, noting a “really muted” Washington with few people about.
I think people are stunned. I think people are saddened.
There will be some diehard Trumpists who will turn this in into a crusade against “woke culture”. But I think most Americans want decency, they want safety, and they want respect.