By Molly Goddard
12:59pm PST, Jan 31, 2025
Fox News host
Jesse Watters proposed a bizarre reason for the tragic American Airlines crash, which claimed the lives of over 60 people.
During the Thursday, January 30, broadcast of
The Five and
Jesse Watters Primetime, the news anchor, 46, went on a strange rant linking DEI hiring to the horrific
collision between the airliner and a Black Hawk Army helicopter in the skies above Washington, D.C., the day prior.
Join us to hear Watter's odd theory about the heartbreaking event…
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"The staffing shortages,
Donald Trump is arguing, are a result of DEI policies," the right-wing anchor claimed of the president's shocking allegation that being mindful of
diversity lowered the standards of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration, resulting in many lives lost.
In true Fox fashion, Watters blamed ex-presidents
Barack Obama and
Joe Biden for their emphasis on inclusion in the workplace.
"You go back to the Obama-Biden administration and they rejected 1,000 well-qualified applicants for air traffic control because they weren't diverse enough. Joe Biden had a DEI quota," he alleged.
"And this isn't about Black people," Watters added. "A lot of people hear, 'DEI,' you think Black. No, he is trying to set quotas for people who are deaf to get jobs, people who are dwarves to get jobs, people with
transgender issues to get jobs."
Despite the strange remark, the host continued to harp on the matter. "It's not about race. It's every sort of underprivileged person that has issues and they want to be able to put these in positions at the FAA," he continued.
"They were unable to meet their own DEI quotas and that's what is leading to staffing shortages, among many other things. So, is it the main factor? We don't know," Watters emphasized.
Although the television personality also listed other factors that may have caused the heartbreaking event, he noted we won't "know until we have this
investigation."
During a press conference at the White House on Thursday, Trump, 78, had an intense exchange with CNN anchor
Kaitlan Collins after she asked if he was "getting ahead of the investigation" in blaming DEI for the collision.
"No, I don't think so at all. I don't think, with the names of the people, you mean the names of the people that are on the plane?" the commander-in-chief questioned. "You think that's going to make a difference? They are a group of people that have lost their lives. If you want a list of the names, we can give you that, we will be giving that very soon. We're in coordination with
American Airlines. We're in coordination very strongly, obviously, with the military."
Trump then delivered the harsh comment, adding, "I think that's not a very smart question. I'm surprised it is coming from you."
At the top of the
meeting, the businessman threw out the shocking allegation that Biden, 82, lowered qualification standards for air traffic controllers.
"The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a
diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's website," Trump claimed.
When further pressed on his statement, the Republican leader doubled down. "It just could have been. We have a high standard," he added. "We've had a much higher standard than anybody else. And there are things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden."
