Democrats harshly criticized President Donald Trump for a news conference Thursday in which he said that his predecessors and diversity were to blame for Wednesday night’s fatal collision of an Army helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

There is no evidence that diversity efforts played a role in the crash, and his statements disregarded his own administration’s hiring policies.

A mid-air collision between a commercial jet and a military helicopter near Washington’s Reagan National Airport has claimed 67 lives. As authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, US President Donald Trump has blamed diversity hiring and lowered safety standards under the Biden and Obama administrations.

President Donald Trump called a plane crash that has left 67 people presumed dead an "hour of anguish" but later claimed diversity, equity and inclusion hiring policies could be responsible.

Without providing any evidence, Trump harshly attacked Democrats for supposedly lowering standards for air traffic controllers, which he suggested could have led to the crash.

President Donald Trump on Jan. 30 claimed without evidence that former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden undermined aviation safety standards in office due to supporting diversity equity and inclusion efforts.

It was Trump's first press conference after a plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter.