WASHINGTON (TNND) — Investigators are still piecing together the events of last Wednesday night when a helicopter collided with a passenger jet over Washington, D.C., marking the deadliest aviation accident in two decades. So far we do know air traffic control staffing levels were not at normal levels that night.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have attributed the staffing issues to what they describe as the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) massive staffing struggles, which they say are a result of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies implemented during the Obama and Biden administrations.

"We were telling our air traffic controllers not to hire people because of the color of their skin," Vance said during an interview on Sunday.

The FAA is currently facing a lawsuit from 1,000 individuals who allege their applications were rejected solely because they are white.

Vance clarified, "This is not saying that the person who is at the controls is a DEI hire but let’s just say the person at the controls didn’t have enough staffing around him or her because we’re turning people away because of DEI reasons."

Over the weekend, we learned one of the Blackhawk pilots involved in the crash was a woman, Captain Rebecca Lobach.

While it remains unclear who was at fault, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also criticized DEI policies in the military.

We will have the best and brightest in every position possible. The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department," Hegseth said last Thursday.

Lobach's family noted that she graduated in the top 20% of ROTC cadets nationwide.

DEI issues played a big role in the last election. Despite some viewing Democrats' stringent DEI policies as a political liability, the party reaffirmed its commitment to DEI multiple times over the past weekend during their forum to select new party leadership. At one point moderator and MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart asked, "How many of you believe that racism and misogyny played a role in Vice President Harris’s defeat?" to a row of candidates vying to become the next party chair. Everyone raised their hands. Capehart responded, "That’s good you all passed."

A new YouGov poll highlights a distinct partisan divide on DEI views, with 73% of Democrats expressing a positive view of DEI programs compared to just 30% of Republicans who view DEI programs positively.