In the dark waters of the Potomac River Wednesday night, emergency responders worked tirelessly to recover victims from one of America’s worst aviation disasters in recent memory. The crash between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter claimed 67 lives. Indeed, it has sent shockwaves through the nation’s capital.

As families waited desperately for news about their loved ones, first responders battled challenging conditions to reach the wreckage. The devastating scene along the Potomac served as a stark reminder of the fragility of human life.

Among the victims were three Army personnel aboard the Black Hawk helicopter and 64 passengers and crew on the commercial flight from Wichita. The human toll of this tragedy was still being calculated.

Yet before recovery efforts could even begin in earnest, CNN analyst Bakari Sellers (because, of course, he did) rushed to politicize the disaster. He attempted to pin the blame on former President Donald Trump through a hastily crafted social media post.

A Rush to Blame

Sellers shared a screenshot of a Democratic press release about Trump’s alleged “hiring freeze” of air traffic controllers, captioning it “8 days ago.” This implied that the former president was responsible for the tragic collision that had occurred mere hours before.

The backlash was swift and severe. One social media user noted, “You deleted the post because dozens of Americans are currently being fished out of the Potomac, and rather than have reverence for the victims, you chose to dishonestly (and despicably) blame @realDonaldTrump.”

Within two hours of his initial post, Sellers was forced to delete it and issue an apology, admitting “I f***ed up, I own that.” He acknowledged that “politics at this point does not” matter compared to the human tragedy unfolding.

The reality painted a very different picture from Sellers’ initial claims. According to official documents, Trump’s executive order specifically exempted positions related to public safety, including air traffic control. A follow-up order had explicitly directed the FAA to maintain merit-based hiring practices.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed Thursday morning that there had been “not a breakdown” in communication between the military helicopter, the commercial aircraft, and the control tower – directly contradicting the rushed narrative pushed by some media figures.

Sound familiar?

Media Accountability

This incident highlights an increasingly common pattern where certain media figures rush to politicize tragedies before the facts are known. The eagerness to assign blame, particularly to conservative figures, often overshadows the human element of these disasters.

As one commentator noted on social media, “They are fishing corpses out of the Potomac, families are praying their loved ones miraculously survived, we haven’t the faintest clue yet what caused the crash, and Bakari is already frantically looking for a way to blame it on Trump. What a broken human being.”

The incident serves as a sobering reminder that in times of national tragedy, Americans deserve better than knee-jerk political attacks. While investigations into the cause continue, the focus should remain on the victims and their families and ensuring such disasters are prevented in the future.

As any reasonable American knows, the rush to blame before facts are known not only dishonors the victims. It also damages public trust in media institutions meant to inform rather than inflame. As recovery efforts continue along the Potomac, this remains first and foremost a human tragedy. It is one that deserves to be treated with dignity and respect rather than used as political ammunition.

Key Takeaways:

• CNN analyst Bakari Sellers attempted to blame Trump for a tragic plane crash before recovery efforts were complete.
• Facts revealed Trump’s hiring freeze explicitly exempted air traffic control and safety positions.
• The incident exemplifies mainstream media’s pattern of rushing to blame conservatives before facts are known.
• The Transportation Secretary confirmed there was no breakdown in tower communications, contradicting the rushed narrative.

Sources: Daily Wire, The Washington Free Beacon, Daily Mail