One thing that has been noticeable about the media’s coverage of the horrific plane crash Wednesday night is how responsible and prudent most of it has been.
Just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, an American Airlines passenger plane that departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport and then crashed into the frigid Potomac River. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the airplane, and three military members on the helicopter. It appears that there were no survivors.
The coverage — especially from responsible news outlets — has been heavy on facts and expert analysis and light on speculation and finger-pointing. They’ve used extreme caution when trying to determine exactly what happened, not wanting to irresponsibly mislead the public considering it likely will be weeks, if not months, before the full details come to light. Those details won’t come until there has been an exhaustive investigation, which is only just getting underway.
In the meantime, the media (again, we’re talking responsible media outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, the networks, as well as reputable newspapers and websites) have moved slowly. They are erring on the side of caution. They are being, in a word, responsible.
The same cannot be said for the president of the United States.
A little after midnight on Wednesday, before we even knew the full extent of the crash, Trump posted on social media, “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
Then Thursday, he went off the rails in a press conference.
The Wall Street Journal’s Tarini Parti and Alex Leary wrote, “President Trump blamed diversity, equity and inclusion programs and Democrats for a deadly midair collision outside the nation’s capital — without citing evidence to support his assertions — as authorities continue to investigate the cause of the incident and recover bodies.”
The key phrase in that sentence: “without citing evidence to support his assertions.”
CNN contributor David Axelrod tweeted, “Even as the hunt for bodies continues, and before an even preliminary probe could be completed, the @POTUS incredibly, despicably appears to blame the plane crash in Washington on DEI programs at the FAA, and turns a moment of national tragedy into a craven political opportunity.”
NBC News’ Matt Dixon wrote, “Without waiting for a full investigation — or a list of the victims — the president began pointing fingers and going on the attack. Rather than using it as a moment to forgo political combat and focus on the victims, he took the opportunity to push his agenda against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.”
Dixon added, “At a White House press briefing Thursday, he read through a more traditional speech expressing condolences about the tragedy, but then launched into remarks that felt more like something from a campaign rally, calling a Democratic official ‘a disaster,’ castigating his predecessors and going after DEI — despite any evidence so far that these policies contributed to the midair collision.”
Again, notice the key phrase: “despite any evidence.”
There’s more. Axios’ Alex Isenstadt and Marc Caputo wrote, “President Trump ordered a review of all federal aviation hiring and safety decisions in response to Wednesday night's deadly air collision near Washington. The order shows Trump is doubling down on his claim, without evidence, that DEI policies were a factor in the crash.”
Again, there’s that phrase: “without evidence.”
In her 5-Minute Fix newsletter, The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips wrote, “In addition to there being no evidence for what he alleged — and a quixotic turn away from the tragedy itself — what the president said is the definition of bias, and a perfect example of why diversity programs are still needed in America, said Susan D. Carle, a civil rights and labor and employment law professor at American University. ‘He’s making assumptions based on a person’s identity with no knowledge of the facts, and that is exactly the core of what racism and sexism is,’ she said.”
In almost all the stories from truly reputable news organizations, Trump’s wild rhetoric was called out for lacking evidence, simply being wrong or being a flat-out lie.
He also showed his usual nastiness, at one point saying this about Pete Buttigieg, who served as President Joe Biden's transportation secretary: “That guy's a real winner … he’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground, and he’s a disaster.”
He then added — on live television, no less — “He’s just got a good line of bull----.”
(Buttigieg, by the way, responded on X, writing, “Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”)
In the end, is anyone surprised by Trump’s deflecting, blaming and insulting? Isn’t this pretty much right out of his playbook?
The New York Times’ David E. Sanger wrote, “His instant focus on diversity reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens, whether the facts fit or not. It is something he has done before: After a terrorist attack in New Orleans a month ago, he blamed illegal immigration, even though the attacker was a U.S. citizen born in Texas.”
So how to wrap up this part of the story?
Watching Trump’s press conference, longtime media reporter Paul Farhi put it well when he tweeted, “Now goes on to speculate what *might* have happened. If any news organization went this far out on a limb just 15 hours after an event, they’d (rightfully) be criticized.”
Fortunately, the good news organizations have not followed Trump out on that limb. And, they’ve called him out for it.
