Just minutes after news broke of the tragic mid-air collision between a commercial airliner and an Army Blackhawk, members of the liberal media rushed to politicize the accident by blaming President Trump and his cuts to federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs (including at the FAA). And when Trump spoke out in his defense during a Thursday press conference and floated the idea that DEI programs might have played a role, two NBC News reporters were up in arms and insisted Trump, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ruined the investigation.
Amid his update on the recovery process underway in the Potomac River, NBC aviation correspondent Tom Costello complained that Trump had gone against how the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) goes about announcing updates and conducting investigations:
And what struck me about this entire press conference – hinting that somehow, the controller might be responsible, that somehow DEI might be responsible, really runs contrary to the NTSB's modus operandi here, in which, literally, they tell every party to the investigation, you are not allowed to speculate, not allowed to go public, not allowed to talk about this case, as we are investigating the facts, and gathering the data and the facts so that we can do a very precise, analytical, review of what, probably, caused this crash.
And I think air traffic controllers nationwide may be a little concerned about those comments suggesting that there was fault in the tower when we simply don't know. And also, that there might have been fault in the cockpit of the Blackhawk. We simply don't know. They still are in the recovery phase of bringing the bodies out of the river.
Costello went further and suggested Trump had seriously damaged the investigation. “[The NTSB is] an independent investigative body for that very reason, so that they can act, hopefully, without any political influence whatsoever and come to the facts,” he said. “And- I just wonder whether their jobs might have just gotten a little bit more difficult based on that news conference.”
Next up was the near hysterics of national security correspondent Courtney Kube, who showed that NBC wasn’t even on the same page about which way Trump was supposedly putting his thumb on the investigation’s scale.
While Costello was saying Trump was against the air traffic control tower, Kube insisted: “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, they did not beat around the bush in laying blame on the helicopter for this- this- collision, saying that they were at the wrong altitude, President Trump saying at one point that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Kube then seemed to accuse both Trump and Hegseth of committing a very serious crime of “undue command influence”:
There is a military and army component to this investigation. There could be a very real claim of undue command influence based off numerous comments that were just made, in that press conference, and how that undue command influence could- by both the president and the Secretary of Defense could directly impact the investigation into this tragic incident- this tragic accident, Hallie.
Despite the fact that the names of the soldiers were not shared publicly, Kube shrieked about how they supposedly broke the “very sacrosanct” rule not to publicly provide personal information of “someone who has been killed in uniform until 24 hours after all of their next of kin have been notified.”
“I have got to tell you- years of covering this building and covering the military, that is a policy that I have never seen violated in any way,” she clutched her pearls.
She eventually admitted “he did not provide the names,” but she still tried to have her cake and eat it too: “but even just putting the ranks out, of the individuals there, that's a- a real departure from what we usually hear, in situations like this.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NBC News NOW
01/30/2025
12:04 PM[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: 67 PEOPLE PRESUMED DEAD AFTER DC PLANE CRASH]
TOM COSTELLO: And what struck me about this entire press conference – hinting that somehow, the controller might be responsible, that somehow DEI might be responsible, really runs contrary to the NTSB's modus operandi here, in which, literally, they tell every party to the investigation, you are not allowed to speculate, not allowed to go public, not allowed to talk about this case, as we are investigating the facts, and gathering the data and the facts so that we can do a very precise, analytical, review of what, probably, caused this crash.
And I think air traffic controllers nationwide may be a little concerned about those comments suggesting that there was fault in the tower when we simply don't know. And also, that there might have been fault in the cockpit of the Blackhawk. We simply don't know. They still are in the recovery phase of bringing the bodies out of the river.
This is a – an investigation, like most NTSB investigations, they will last about a year. The NTSB is set up as an independent investigative body. They are not governed by the DoT; they are not governed by the – by the FAA. They are an independent investigative body for that very reason, so that they can act, hopefully, without any political influence whatsoever and come to the facts.
And- I just wonder whether their jobs might have just gotten a little bit more difficult based on that news conference.
HALLIE JACKSON: Tom Costello, stand by for us while we bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Courtney Kube.
Because you heard Tom mention it, Court, you heard the President mention it, from the briefing-room microphone there. This suggestion that there was perhaps a pilot problem inside the cockpit of that Blackhawk helicopter. You also heard from the new secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, who talked about the individuals who were in the helicopter. Did not mention names specifically. What else are you learning from your vantage point?
COURTNEY KUBE: Yeah, I gotta say, Hallie, there were so many stunning moments in that, based off of when we have seen a tragedy in the past, how we hear an administration talk about it.
So let's start with what Tom was just talking about, and that is- the fact that the- President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, they did not beat around the bush in laying blame on the helicopter for this- this- collision, saying that they were at the wrong altitude, President Trump saying at one point that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Um, and- and just beyond Tom- What Tom was explaining about the NTSB and the civilian component of this, let's not forget, President Donald Trump is the commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces. There is a military and army component to this investigation. There could be a very real claim of undue command influence based off numerous comments that were just made, in that press conference, and how that undue command influence could- by both the president and the Secretary of Defense could directly impact the investigation into this tragic incident- this tragic accident, Hallie.
A couple other things that really stood out to me, number one, President Trump saying that it was a pilot problem, from the standpoint of the helicopter. Again, it- that is- we normally, when there is any kind of an aviation accident, we- we hear the phrase over and over as reporters: “it's under investigation. We're not going to get out ahead of the investigation.” Saying something that clear was really staggering to me, Hallie.
And then Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, coming out and saying the ranks of the individuals who were killed in this crash. Again, one thing that has been very sacrosanct, when it comes to service members being killed in the line of duty, no matter the circumstance, no matter the situation- there is a policy here in the Pentagon that is adhered to by the letter, by the services. And that is, you do not provide information about someone who has been killed in uniform until 24 hours after all of their next of kin have been notified. Hallie, I have got to tell you- years of covering this building and covering the military, that is a policy that I have never seen violated in any way.
Now, he did not provide the names, but even just putting the ranks out, of the individuals there, that's a- a real departure from what we usually hear, in situations like this.
