Female NTSB head stuns the press with her unexpected response to Trump's claim DEI caused the crash

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifery Homendy stunned reporters after being asked several ways if President Donald Trump jumped the gun by blaming the deadly D.C. crash on 'DEI' and previous administrations. 

Homendy led a press conference on-site at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Thursday afternoon. 

Several of the reporters in the crowd asked her about Trump's eyebrow-raising assertions that he made standing at the podium earlier Thursday in the White House briefing room.  

'With all due respect, I think the press also likes to state what probable cause is before we get to the probable cause,' Homendy said. 'So what I'm going to say is you need to give us time.' 

Just 10 days into his administration and Trump manned the podium Thursday morning to respond to the deadly crash between an American Airlines commuter jet and an Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night. 

The crash killed 67 people - 60 passengers and four crew members on the AA flight that was coming in from Wichita, Kansas, and the three on board the military helicopter. 

Trump's press briefing got off to a solemn start - with a moment of silence for the victims and other compassionate comments - but quickly turned into a blame game. 

'I changed the Obama standards to very mediocre at best to extraordinary,' the president said. 'Only the highest aptitude have to be, the highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers. That was not so prior-to.' 

'And then when I left office, and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before,' Trump continued. 'I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first.'

Trump went on claiming that the 'FAA's diversity push' included 'hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.' 

'We have to have the smartest people,' Trump said. 'It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are.' 

'They have to talented, naturally talented. Geniuses,' he continued. 'Can't have regular people doing their job. We can't have regular people doing that job. They won't be able to do it.' 

'But we'll restore faith in American air travel. I'll have more to say about that.' 

He called out DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion - measures by name.  

He said that the FAA's website said diversity was 'intergral to achieving FAA's mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel.'  

'I don't think so, I think it's just the opposite,' Trump said. 

He then went after Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.  

'That guy's a real winner,' Trump said sarcastically. 'He's a disaster,' he added. 

'He's got a good line of bulls***,' the president said. 'He's run it right into the ground with his diversity.' 

Homendy had been twice nominated by Trump to serve as an NTSB board member in 2018. She finished out a term expiring that year and then was nominated to serve a full five-year term that December. 

Democratic President Joe Biden then nominated Homendy to serve as chair in 2021, during the opening months of his administration.