Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S., on September 6, 2024.
White House correspondent Jonathan Lemire didn’t mince words on Friday morning as he criticized Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling what some have called the first real crisis of his second term.
From his position as a co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Lemire expanded on a column he wrote for The Atlantic. Under the headline “The Day Trump Became Un-President,” he described the president’s press conference about the DC plane crash tragedy: “And just like in 2020, Trump used a national calamity to try to score political points and denigrate his foes. Fourteen hours after a midair collision between an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter outside Washington last night—the first crisis of the young administration, a moment to console a stunned and grieving nation—Trump repeatedly implied that the crash was the fault of his Democratic predecessors and DEI policies.”
Prompted by co-host Willie Geist on Friday morning, Lemire cut straight to the chase.
“In a moment that should have been about consoling a nation, unifying a nation, he chose divisiveness yet again,” Lemire said of the press conference. “He acted like an observer rather than someone who not only had the opportunity and resources but also the responsibility to provide answers.”
“And he tried to score political points while shifting blame,” he continued before emphatically stating, “This did happen under his watch.”
“Yes, only ten days into his administration, no one was going to say the president of the United States was at fault for what happened. But he couldn’t handle the idea that this was a crisis he suddenly had to deal with,” Lemire accused. “So he tried to pass the buck to others, making wild claims without evidence—whether blaming President Obama, President Biden, or DEI policies.”
