Bakari Sellers’s now-deleted post suggests Trump’s hiring freeze caused tragic crash
CNN analyst Bakari Sellers wrote and later deleted an X post blaming President Donald Trump for Wednesday’s deadly midair collision between a commercial airplane and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.
Sellers posted a screenshot of a statement from House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Democrats claiming that Trump implemented a “dangerous” hiring freeze on air traffic controllers. “8 days ago,” Sellers wrote in a caption accompanying the photo.
Trump’s executive order instituting a broad hiring freeze exempted positions related to public safety, and a follow-up order directed the Federal Aviation Administration to “immediately return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring, as required by law.”
Sellers posted his comment at 10:05 p.m.—less than 90 minutes after an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kan., crashed into an Army Blackhawk helicopter as the commercial plane approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for landing. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River. Officials believe none of the 67 people on the plane and helicopter survived.
“I deleted the post because timing matters. Politics at this point does not. I fucked up, I own that,” Sellers wrote at 10:44 p.m., after deleting his original post.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was confirmed Tuesday, said Thursday morning that there was “not a breakdown” in communication between the military helicopter, the plane, and the air traffic control tower.
“I am very prayerful but I’m also very frustrated upset and disturbed with where we are as a country. I recognize, and I will do better,” Sellers wrote. “The only thing that matters is rescuing the survivors, and ensuring this never happens again.”
Rep. Norma Torres (D., Calif.) also posted a photo of the Transportation Committee’s press release. She has not walked back her statement.
“Praying for the families and demanding answers,” Torres wrote.
In a Truth Social post, the president scrutinized the crash, calling it “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.”
Duffy at a Thursday press conference echoed Trump’s sentiment.
“Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” Duffy said.
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