Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit back on Thursday after President Donald Trump blamed him and assorted "diversity" initiatives for Wednesday night's deadly plane crash over Washington D.

President Donald Trump attacks former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at press conference. Buttigieg responds on X.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called President Donald Trump “despicable” after he blamed Buttigieg for Wednesday night’s collision between a commercial flight and a helicopter over Washington,

President Trump’s remarks, suggesting that diversity in hiring and other Biden administration policies somehow caused the disaster, reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens.

Democrats harshly criticized President Donald Trump for a news conference Thursday in which he said that his predecessors and diversity were to blame for Wednesday night’s fatal collision of an Army helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

It was Trump's first press conference after a plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter.