Musk previously posted it would 'take plane crash' to end DEI policy
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Within hours of the tragedy, President Donald Trump and other administration officials rushed to link diversity hiring and DEI initiatives to the deadly crash in Washington.
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Donald Trump arrives to watch SpaceX's rocket Starship lift off for a test flight with Elon Musk from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Tuesday, November 19, 2024. (AP)
Elon Musk once posted on X about aviation hiring, stating, "It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE," according to Yahoo's fact-checker.
Musk even mocked the acronym DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) by deliberately misspelling it as "DIE".
He posted (archived) the remark on Jan. 9, 2024, in response to a user who, according to NBC News, theorized that United Airlines pilots who attended historically Black schools and institutions would have lower IQs than the typical Air Force pilot. The person later removed their post.
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Musk's post resurfaced after a fatal midair crash between an American Airlines airliner and an Army chopper in Washington on January 29, 2025, claiming the lives of all 67 passengers on both aircraft.
Within hours of the tragedy, President Donald Trump and other administration officials linked diversity hiring and DEI initiatives to the crash, despite acknowledging that investigations were only starting.
At a January 30 news conference, Trump criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) diversity and hiring policy, which has been in place since 2013, long before the Biden administration.
"We do not know what led to this crash," he admitted, "but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we'll probably state those opinions now."
He mocked the FAA's efforts to promote inclusion and the hiring of disabled individuals as air traffic controllers, emphasizing that such roles should be filled by "naturally talented geniuses" and claiming that someone with a disability could not meet that standard.
When asked for evidence that diversity hiring contributed to the crash, Trump offered no proof, saying, "It just could have been" and claiming he had "common sense" and many others did not.
Trump has advocated against initiatives that aim to eliminate systematic disadvantages by offering opportunities to excluded communities, claiming these regulations are discriminatory and lead to lower standards.
His stance, widely echoed in the MAGA movement, reflects a belief that diversity takes precedence over competence. Musk has supported this narrative, criticizing companies like United Airlines and Boeing for their initiatives to hire non-white pilots and workers.
On his inauguration day, Trump issued an executive order aimed at ending government programs, offices, jobs, plans, activities, projects, grants, and contracts related to DEI, DEIA ("A" for accessibility), environmental justice, and equality.
