Trump takes aim, without evidence, at diversity policies over midair collision

President Donald Trump suggested without evidence on Thursday that the deadly midair collision of two aircraft in Washington was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration's efforts to hire a more diverse workforce. Trump leveled the accusation at a White House press conference called to update Americans on the Wednesday night crash in which a passenger jet about to land at Reagan National Airport collided with an Army helicopter on a training flight. The cause of the air crash is not yet clear, and there is no evidence that efforts to make the federal workforce more diverse have compromised air safety. Yet Trump used the briefing to step up his rhetoric on the issue, in this case criticizing the FAA, which regulates commercial U.S. air travel. "The FAA diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing," Trump said, claiming the FAA wanted people "with severe disabilities, the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in and they want them - they can be air traffic controllers." Asked how he could blame diversity, equity and inclusion hiring for the crash without yet knowing who was at fault, Trump said, "because I have common sense." "Air traffic controllers have to be at the highest level of genius," he added. A former FAA official told Reuters that air traffic controllers undergo rigorous testing - mentally and physically - before they are hired. Trump's comments drew criticism from aviation safety experts, disability rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers.<br/>