"Faced with its first major airline disaster since 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was leaderless, thanks in part to Elon Musk. Musk accused former FAA Chief Michael Whitaker, who was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2023 for a five-year term, of harassment and demanded his removal."
~ Caleb Ecarma
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/1
https://www.muskwatch.com/p/the-week-in-musk-elon-v-the-faa
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"It’s America’s worst aviation disaster since 2001. And it shows the danger of wantonly destroying a federal government whose functioning remains vital for, among other things, keeping air travelers safe. ...
Destroying the FAA makes no one safer."
~ Aaron Rupar and Noah Berlatsky
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/2
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-dca-collision-dei
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"Transportation safety officials were among those purged [by Trump], and the loss of the person at the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during former president Joe Biden’s term, Mike Whitaker, after he clashed with Elon Musk captures Trump’s antigovernment worldview. ... Musk wrote: 'He needs to resign.' ...
Whitaker resigned the day Trump took office."
~ Heather Cox Richardson
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl
/3
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-30-2025
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"That same day, the administration froze the hiring of all federal employees, including air traffic controllers, although the U.S. Department of Transportation warned in June 2023 that 77% of air traffic control facilities critical to daily operations of the airline industry were short staffed."
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/4
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"The next day, January 21, Trump fired Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief David Pekoske, and administration officials removed all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which Congress created after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Trump administration vacated the positions with an eye to 'eliminating the misuse of resources.'”
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/5
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"Other vacant positions at the FAA, according to CNN’s Alexandra Skores, are 'the deputy administrator, an associate administrator of airports, an associate administrator for security and hazardous materials safety, chief counsel, assistant administrator of communications, assistant administrator of government and industry affairs, and assistant administrator for policy, international affairs, and environment.'”
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/6
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"His administration seems to be trying to replace the government Americans have created through their representatives over centuries to promote the interests of all Americans with a group of white men who can operate as they see best, without restraint."
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/7
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"Who’s actually trying to hollow out the federal workforce? Gee, did we really have to ask? ...
Among Trump’s first moves as president, he fired every member of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee without replacing them, as well as firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard. He also froze hiring of new flight controllers."
~ Doktor Zoom
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/8
https://www.wonkette.com/p/did-trumps-war-on-competence-cause
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"oh wait, Donny can’t call up the Aviation Safety Committee — because right now, there’s no one at the other end to pick up the phone."
~ Jeff Tiedrich
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/9
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/imbecile-breaks-government-then-demands
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"Let’s make a couple [of] things clear:
First, only people who are inferior garbage blame things on “DEI.” Only people who aren’t good enough at their jobs or at life to garner respect without coercion blame things on 'DEI.'”
~ Evan Hurst
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI #scapegoating #PassingtheBuck #lies #RankStupidity
/10
https://evanhurst.substack.com/p/trump-and-hegseth-scream-dei-to-hide
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"Never before in the history of the nation has a president made such an explicit appeal to racism during a time of tragedy."
~ Robert B. Hubbell
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI #scapegoating #PassingtheBuck #lies #RankStupidity #racism
/11
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/a-new-low
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"The story is not—as reported in the legacy media—that 'Trump blamed DEI' for the collision. It is that Trump resorted to racist tropes to deflect blame from himself and gain political advantage from the deaths of innocent passengers, pilots, and crew. As Senator Tammy Duckworth noted, Trump's remarks were made as the bodies of the military pilots remained strapped in the submerged wreckage of their helicopter."
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI
/12
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"Trump's comments desecrated the lives, memories, and bodies of the victims that have yet to be buried. And they insulted hundreds of millions of Americans who are not 'white male Christians,' including women, people with disabilities, and Black and Hispanic Americans."
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI #scapegoating #PassingtheBuck #lies #RankStupidity #racism
/13
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"This administration’s response to the crash has been consistently sickening, but not at all unexpected.
This is what America voted for."
~ Jim Swift
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI #scapegoating #PassingtheBuck #lies #RankStupidity #racism
/14
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-plane-crash-response-is-as-749
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"Aviation safety sits at the pinnacle of what we think of as the 'good' provided by government. Trump is already taking a sledgehammer to that framework with his false public denunciations and emphasis on assigning quick and baseless blame."
~ David Kurtz
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI #scapegoating #PassingtheBuck #lies #RankStupidity #racism
/15
https://morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com/p/the-worst-nightmare-for-doj-is-already
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"Was he grave, sombre, the consoler-in-chief? Are you kidding – this is Trump. Hours after the Washington plane crash, the president’s desire to politicise tragedy was breathtaking in its audacity."
~ David Smith
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI #scapegoating #PassingtheBuck #lies #RankStupidity #racism
/16
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/30/trump-washington-dc-plane-crash
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My friend Judge Wendell Griffen, who pastors New Millennium Baptist church in Little Rock, Arkansas, addresses Donald Trump:
"Sir, your response, and that of your staff, was inexcusable.
The world has long known that you lack empathy for others. But until Thursday the world did not see your disdain for the sorrow of so many people displayed with such mendacity."
[#]Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #MoralValues
/17
https://wendellgriffen.substack.com/p/deplorable-mr-president
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"For the record, I am a pastor in the religion of Jesus and a retired judge.
My faith tradition, like that of other traditions, is clear about the moral and ethical issues that arise when people die in tragic circumstances.
All religions recognize that we should grieve with people who grieve, not disrespect their sorrow."
[#]Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #MoralValues
/18
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"All religions hold that it is wrong to use the tragic deaths of people as an excuse for making false statements about them or their deaths.
Sir, your behavior, statements about the tragic deaths of 67 people, and your administration’s actions and statements that falsely characterize their deaths as attributable to DEI, is deplorable."
[#]Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #MoralValues
/19
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'The FAA used to be called the gold standard for a government agency overseeing aviation. Other nations, when they had problems, when they had accidents, that weren’t even in any way related to the United States, not involving a U.S.-built aircraft, not involving a U.S. airline, they would turn to the FAA and the NTSB and ask for assistance. We are no longer the gold standard."
~ W. McGee
[#]Musk #Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety
/20
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/31/reagan_airport_crash_trump_dei
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"The real story here isn't about DEI policies at all — it's about how quickly Trump moved to exploit a tragedy that killed 67 people to advance his political agenda. While families were still learning whether their loved ones had survived, Trump was already spinning conspiracy theories about diversity initiatives.
This matters because it's a preview of how Trump will govern."
~ Parker Molloy
[#]Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI
/21
https://www.readtpa.com/p/trumps-response-to-the-potomac-crash
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"There are flashing red lights where a moment like this could also be an opportunity to look at the future of aviation, aviation safety, to protect the American public. That window was about three hours. Trump just closed it. And that is the long-term consequences of having a president like this."
~ Juliette Kayyem
[#]Trump #AirSafety #AirTravel #FAA #AirTrafficControl #AviationSafety #DEI
/22
https://newrepublic.com/article/190977/angry-trump-snaps-journos-harshly-expose-plane-crash-drivel
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