Vice President J.D. Vance made a comment about his political future as he discussed what he and President Donald Trump believe contributed to the deadly mid-air collision over Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in an exclusive interview set to air on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures.
Host Maria Bartiromo asked Vance about his political ambitions after the vice presidency. “You’re one of the youngest vice presidents that we’ve ever seen in the history of our country. Are you expecting to run for president in three and a half years?” she said.
“Maria, you’re the first person who’s asked me that,” Vance replied, smiling.
In one of his first television interviews since assuming office as the 50th Vice President of the United States last month, Vance also discussed Trump’s second-term agenda while addressing the major crises the administration has faced just days into the presidency, including the deadly plane crash that claimed 67 lives last week.
“There is a very direct connection between the policies of the last administration and short-staffed air traffic controllers. That has to stop,” Vance told Bartiromo.
The host also asked Vance about Trump’s mention of progressive DEI policies in connection with the crash between an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that crossed its flight path on Wednesday night.
In a Thursday press conference concerning the crash, Trump specifically mentioned the previous administration’s DEI standards implemented government-wide but also at the Federal Aviation Administration as potentially contributing to the crash, stating, “We have to have our smartest people. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. What matters is intellect, talent. The word ‘talent.’ They have to be talented geniuses. We can’t have regular people doing that job. They won’t be able to do it.”
Bartiromo gave Vance the chance to elaborate on the president’s remarks.
“So the president’s been very clear about this. This is not saying that the person who was at the controls is a DEI hire. But let’s just say, first of all, we should investigate everything, but let’s just say the person at the controls didn’t have enough staffing around him or her because we were turning people away because of DEI reasons,” he told the host.
The VP also shredded the legacy media for grilling Trump over his suggestion.
“And by the way, it’s so funny to me the media has picked up on this. Not you, of course, Maria, but others have picked up on this. The president made very clear that he wasn’t blaming anybody, but he was being very explicit about the fact that DEI policies have led our air traffic controllers to be short-staffed,” he said.
“That is a scandal. Thankfully, it’s a scandal that the president has stopped,” Vance added
Meanwhile, Trump responded following a second air disaster in as many days after the crash of a Lear 55 medical jet into a Philadelphia neighborhood Friday night, killing seven and injuring nearly 20 others on the ground.
“So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job. More to follow. God Bless you all,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page shortly after the incident Friday night.
Fox News reported that the aircraft was operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance and had just departed from a northeast Philadelphia airport shortly before it crashed. Fox also obtained chilling audio from air traffic control in the final moments before impact.
The audio, obtained by Fox News Digital, was recorded just before the plane took off. In the recording, operators can be heard urgently attempting to make contact with the plane before it crashed.
“What’s going on down there?” one air traffic controller can be heard saying.
“We have a lost aircraft. We’re not exactly sure what happened. So, we’re trying to figure it out,” replies another air traffic controller. “The field is going to be closed so no inbounds-outbounds.” The plane departed the airport around 6:55 pm EDT.
