A Republican representative questioned if DEI may at fault for the D.C. plane crash on Wednesday night that likely killed all involved.
The mid-air crash, which involved 64 people on a commercial flight and 3 from a military helicopter, has now turned into a recovery mission on Thursday morning, with no survivors expected to be found.
Just hours after the fatal collision, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles questioned if diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, which have become a hotbed debate among the GOP, was the cause of the crash.
Ogles, a House Homeland Security Committee member, said that they would investigate everything, including whether or not DEI caused the crash.
“Well, you know, at this time, you hate to jump to any conclusions,” Ogles said on Fox Business News Thursday. “But, you know, to your point, I think you have to look at this with eyes wide open, see what happened. You know, human error, was it some sort of equipment failure? Did DEI play a role in this type of thing?”
Ogles is not the only Republican to spout possible conspiracies behind the attack.
President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday night: “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,” Trump continued. “NOT GOOD!!!”
Billionaire Bill Ackman also questioned the reasoning behind the crash.
“How does an incredibly maneuverable military helicopter fly into a regional aircraft by accident with all of the sensors and warning devices designed to prevent an accident like this one?,” Ackman wrote on X. “It sounds more like terrorism than an accident. Perhaps an expert on Blackhawks can weigh…” It now appears that Ackman’s post has been taken down.