The two highest-ranking men tasked with investigating what appears to be the worst commercial jet crash in the U.S. in more than 15 years are unqualified former Fox News hosts who are completely in over their heads.
Newly minted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy—a reality TV contestant turned congressman turned Fox Business host with no transportation experience—seemed like a deer in headlights during a news conference Thursday morning. He tried to provide updates on the late-night crash between a regional commercial jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that took place as the jet prepared to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, near Washington, D.C. All 64 passengers on the commercial jet and three service members on the helicopter are assumed dead.
“Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that,” Duffy said at the news conference, in what is perhaps the most “no shit, Sherlock” comment in history.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy: “Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that.”— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-01-30T14:11:54.959Z
When a reporter later asked whether there’s an acting Federal Aviation Administration director—after Donald Trump’s co-president, Elon Musk, told the previous head to resign—Duffy did not answer and continued to walk away. Trump announced later on Thursday that he was appointing an “acting commissioner” to the FAA.
Meanwhile, around the time of the crash, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—a title the misogynistic degenerate and former Fox News host should never have gotten—was on-air with fellow misogynistic degenerate and current Fox News host Jesse Watters, declaring that “diversity is not our strength.”
In fact, on his fourth day on the job of overseeing the Pentagon, Hegseth twice appeared on his former network to yuk it up with his former colleagues, according to Media Matters for America’s Matthew Gertz.
Hegseth did not appear at Duffy’s news conference. Instead, he filmed a video message about the crash, saying the helicopter was piloted by a “fairly experienced crew” who had been conducting a “required annual night evaluation” with night-vision goggles, and that the military is “actively investigating” what went wrong.
“It’s a tragedy. A horrible loss of life,” Hegseth said.
And how did the nation’s new president respond? Shortly after the crash, Trump fired off an unhelpful Truth Social post implying something nefarious had happened and feeding into conspiracy theories before much information was known about what had happened.
“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,” he wrote. “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!!!”
In a subsequent post, Trump said, “What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”
You’d expect more from the president of the United States until you remember Trump is nothing more than a stupid reality TV host with no filter and a penchant for lying and spreading conspiracies.
The incompetence of the Trump administration is about to have real-life consequences.
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