Vice President J.D. Vance argues there is a "direct connection" between Biden administration policies and the aviation safety crisis, including staffing shortages among air traffic controllers.

An American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed on Wednesday, killing 67 people.

“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,” Vance said in a Fox Business interview that aired on Sunday. 

“There is a very direct connection between the policies of the last administration and short-staffed air traffic controllers. That has to stop,” Vance said.

Following the crash, Trump said diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies should not apply to the hiring of air traffic controllers.

“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,” Trump said.

Vance said Trump's comments were not directed at the hiring process at the FAA, not specific air traffic controllers.

"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 added.