White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt unloaded on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer this week for suggesting that Donald Trump’s actions somehow contributed to the recent plane crash in Toronto.
On Monday, a Delta Air Lines plane departing from Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport crashed while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Video showed the aircraft touching down before flipping onto its top side in a fiery eruption.
After the crash, footage captured the plane upside-down as passengers escaped through the doors. All 80 passengers survived, but 18 were injured, including three in critical condition.
WATCH: Dashcam video captures the moment a Delta plane erupts into a fireball as it crash-lands and flips upside down at Toronto Airport. All 80 passengers on board survived. pic.twitter.com/YO04jvwaNS
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 18, 2025
The crash sparked some political debate on X, with Schumer blaming Trump for what happened. In a series of posts, he stated, “I’m thankful that everyone on the flight incident in Toronto that took off from Minneapolis is safe, but we keep seeing these incidents day after day. Meanwhile, Trump’s making massive layoffs at the FAA—including safety specialists—and making our skies less and less safe.”
“Democrats are fighting to protect the flying public,” he added. In a subsequent post, Schumer wrote, “To those asking whether it matters that the plane’s destination was in Canada: The flight took off from Minneapolis. The FAA was still responsible for inspecting the aviation equipment, and Trump just let go of FAA safety specialists.”
To those asking whether it matters that the plane’s destination was in Canada:
The flight took off from Minneapolis. The FAA was still responsible for inspecting the aviation equipment, and Trump just let go of FAA safety specialists. https://t.co/uCpjHtqLnd
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 18, 2025
“It’s incredibly irresponsible for Chuck Schumer to say such a thing when the investigation is still underway,” Leavitt said.
Speaking to “America Reports” co-anchor John Roberts, Leavitt said, “And as you rightfully pointed out, John, this crash unfortunately took place in Canadian airspace with Canadian air-traffic controllers overseeing it.”
She then disputed the point about Trump firing FAA officials. “And the facts about the FAA are that no air-traffic controllers have been let go by Secretary Duffy or this new administration. In fact, Secretary Duffy has put great emphasis on hiring the best and the brightest air-traffic controllers who want to be part of the FAA,” she argued.
“And President Trump signed a very strong executive order to ensure that the FAA and all federal government agencies are focused on merit and skill-based hiring,” she continued. “We want the best and the brightest, the most competent individuals in positions especially of public safety at the FAA, the Department of Transportation, and all departments across this federal government, so we can best serve the American people.”
Watch the clip above.
[h/t Fox News]
Karoline Leavitt gives fact-check after Sen. Schumer blames Trump for upside-down Delta plane crash in Toronto https://t.co/g4ljwwIMij
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 19, 2025
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