‘I Don’t Know Where to Start’: MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart Stunned By Trump Presser Attacking Pilots in Air Crash

MSNBC anchor José Díaz-Balart expressed shock after President Donald Trump held a press briefing on Thursday during which he blamed diversity programs and the previous administration for Wednesday night’s deadly air crash above the Potomac River.

After Trump wrapped his unwieldy presser, Díaz-Balart began reporting and said, “I don’t know where to start, but let’s start with remembering that 67 people lost their lives last night.”

“And you’re seeing on your screen that image of the rescue operations that are still underway at the Potomac. I want to go to Aaron Gilchrist, who is with us, as is NBC aviation analyst Jeff Corsetti. Aaron, after a moment of silence, a mountain of criticism,” he continued before turning to Gilchrist.

“I think that’s an absolutely fair way to put it. Jose, you and I have covered many instances. I’ve been in Washington since the first Obama administration through these different presidents that have been here. And this is the first time after a tragedy where 67 lives are presumed to have been lost, that we’ve had a president come to the podium, offer words of condolence and then criticize– It seemingly, the pilots and the helicopter, the air traffic controllers, just it is remarkable,” Gilchrist replied, offering a similar sentiment to the anchor.

“It is absolutely unusual and remarkable to have the president say, as he did, that he believes this was a confluence of bad decisions, that he was critical of the helicopter’s movements,” Gilchrist continued, concluding:

You heard the secretary of defense say that there was certainly an elevation issue that with the helicopter.

The president went on to say that to suggest that DEI policies and programs in the previous administration somehow played a role in in this to the extent that perhaps the people who were operating these aircraft or people in the control tower weren’t smart enough to be doing the job.

He did say that this is a country in mourning, Jose, and certainly that is the case for so many of us as we know now, that 67 lives have likely been lost in this air collision.

Watch above via MSNBC.