Former President Donald Trump has once again demonstrated his lack of seriousness, showcasing his tendency to emphasize his own ignorance.

During a Thursday press conference, Trump disgraced himself and his administration by exploiting a national tragedy—the tragic midair collision involving a passenger plane and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.—to launch into a tirade about what he believes are the problems associated with diversity.

By the end of the day, it became clear that Trump made himself look foolish, as news outlets uncovered that his baseless claims regarding the removal of diversity-in-hiring policies were untrue, and that some of these policies were indeed celebrated during his initial term in office.

Oops. A combination of dishonesty and ignorance rarely ends well.

Trump reassures the nation with fabrications about diversity policies

With no evidence to back his claims and while first responders worked to retrieve bodies from the Potomac River, the president pointed fingers at what he described as the villain of the moment: DEI, or “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

He criticized Federal Aviation Administration recruitment efforts aimed at hiring individuals with disabilities by stating: “They want them in, and they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so.”

He listed various disabilities that the FAA has focused on in its hiring efforts in a manner that suggested disgust: “hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy.”

Don’t misunderstand Trump’s view of DEI: it favors able-bodied white men

Trump insisted that only “naturally talented geniuses” should be hired. To clarify, when he mentions “naturally talented geniuses” while disparaging DEI, he is alluding to “white men without disabilities.”

When asked how he linked DEI to the crash that resulted in the deaths of 67 individuals, Trump claimed: “I have common sense.” What that truly suggests, in this context, is: “I hold racist and sexist views, and I lack belief in the capabilities of people with disabilities.”

Trump’s news conference fabrications were astounding

Trump alleged that he had amended Obama-era hiring standards at the FAA during his presidency, proclaiming: “I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. … Then they changed it back – that was Biden.”

Later in the day, he signed an executive order to reassess aviation safety measures, reiterating the same false claim.

However, this turned out to be entirely fabricated. As reported by YSL News, “FAA archives demonstrate that diversity initiatives have been in place since at least 2013 and remained throughout Trump’s first term.”

Media outlets quickly identified Trump’s dishonesty

The Washington Post noted: “During his first term, Trump did not alter the standards.”

CBS News stated: “When confronted about why the ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ policy remained unchanged on the FAA’s website during his first administration, he replied, ‘I did change it. I modified the Obama policy, and we had a very good policy. And then Biden came in and made changes.’”

This assertion is simply false. It suggests that the leader of the free world is either forgetful or fabricating stories out of thin air, with the latter being more likely.

FAA proudly recruited individuals with disabilities during Trump’s first term

One of the most ironic and embarrassing parts of Trump’s completely futile rant was his recitation of the list of targeted disabilities.

On April 11, 2019 – within Trump’s first term – the FAA issued a news release announcing “a pilot program to assist individuals with disabilities in preparing for careers in air traffic operations.”

That 2019 announcement referenced the “targeted disabilities,” which were the very same disabilities Trump listed during his press conference this Thursday.