“Consoler-in-chief”: Fox News panel gushes over press conference during which Trump linked diversity to deadly aircraft collision

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the January 30, 2025, edition of Fox News' Outnumbered 

HARRIS FAULKNER (HOST):  I want to start, Kayleigh, with something that the president said about his third or fourth paragraph. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history and a tragedy of terrible proportions. As one nation we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly and we are a country and really we are in mourning. This has really shaken a lot of people, including people very sadly from other nations who were on that flight. I mean, he played the role of consoler-in-chief.

Faulkner was discussing Trump's press conference about the mid-air collision on January 29 outside DCA airport near Washington, DC. From The New York Tiimes:

President Trump blamed diversity requirements at the Federal Aviation Administration and his two Democratic predecessors for the midair collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, saying that standards for air traffic controllers had been too lax.

Mr. Trump cited no evidence, and even admitted when pressed that the investigation had only just begun.

Moments later, he blamed the pilots of the Army helicopter that appeared to fly into a passenger jet that was on final approach to Reagan National Airport, across the river from the capital.

Mr. Trump went back and forth between blaming diversity goals that he said were created by President Barack Obama and President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and then saying that an investigation was necessary.

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