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In an address to the nation following the deadly mid-air collision of an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., killing 64 people on board, President Donald Trump questioned the actions of the army helicopter pilot and the air traffic controller before quickly veering into politics, speculating that Democrats and diversity initiatives shared blame for the deaths of 67 people.

Trump started his conference by saying, “We are one family,” expressing condolences for the crash of the commercial jet and army helicopter that fell into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday night, before proceeding to attack political opponents and unleash grievances about diversity initiatives.

More on the tragic crash: Everyone aboard jet that collided with an Army helicopter is feared dead

“When I left office and Biden took over, he changed the (policies) back to lower than ever before,” Trump said. “I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody has ever seen because this was the lowest level. Their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse.”

Trump added the program allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and “dwarfism.” He also said air traffic controllers need to be geniuses.

“They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses,” he said. “You can’t have regular people doing their job.”

Speaking from the White House — just three miles from the scene — Trump acknowledged that it was too soon to draw conclusions as he encouraged the nation to pray for the victims.

Trump said “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions” before talking at length about what happened, at one point wondering if the helicopter pilot was wearing night vision goggles.

Trump declared that “you had a pilot problem” and the helicopter was “going at an angle that was unbelievably bad.” He questioned why the Army pilot didn’t change course, claiming “You can stop a helicopter very quickly.” He also mused about the air traffic controller, saying of the two aircraft, “For whatever reason, they were at the same elevation,” adding “They should have been at a different height.”

Aviation expert John Nance on D.C. crash: ‘There’s never just one cause’

³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio host weighs in on Trump’s response

“This is par for the course. This is what 60% of the country voted for,” ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio host Gee Scott said on “Seattle’s Morning News.” “I’m surprised because we’ve never seen this before. We don’t know what this is like. We don’t know what it is like for the President of the United States to stand in front of the country and speak before even all of the bodies are recovered, and this is what happens: DEI is blamed. Obama is blamed. Biden is blamed. Pete Buttigieg is blamed. And what really took me out was little people were blamed for this crash.”

Trump said he had no evidence to support his claims that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and hiring preferences played a role in the crash, allowing that “it just could have been.” He defended doing so “because I have common sense.”

Trump complained specifically about Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary under former President Joe Biden, calling him “a disaster.”

“He’s run it right into the ground with his diversity,” Trump said.

Complaining about the previous administration, Trump continued, “Their policy was horrible and their politics was even worse.”

Buttigieg responded in a , calling Trump’s comments “despicable,” adding, “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying.”

“We don’t know who traffic controllers were, we don’t know who the pilots were, we don’t know anything, but it doesn’t matter because what we have learned is that it’s all about the myth,” Gee said. “It’s all about the narrative. It’s almost like white supremacy. I hate to get deep on you for a second, but I’m going to say it: White supremacy was always built on a lie. It was built on a lie that white people were superior to everybody else, and in order to keep that same narrative, you have to keep the same lies, literally. So here we are today.

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“We are 10 days in,” Gee continued. “Ten days in and almost four years to go. But the crazy thing is, people keep saying, ‘just got to get through four years.’ No, this might not be undone for another 50 (years) with the groundwork that’s being laid right now.

The plane crash marked the first major disaster of Trump’s new term. Despite the crash, Trump said he “would not hesitate to fly.”

Contributing: The Associated Press and Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of Charlie’s stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie  and email him here.