Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit back after President Trump criticized the Biden administration and diversity initiatives in the aftermath of a deadly midair collision outside

Pete Buttigieg, former transportation secretary and former South Bend mayor, called Trump's comments during today's press briefing "despicable."

Pete Buttigieg criticized Donald Trump's handling of a fatal midair collision, highlighting his own safety record and calling for leadership instead of blame.

President Donald Trump attacks former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at press conference. Buttigieg responds on X.

The 47th president of the United States left more questions than answers in his expletive attacks on Democrats and diversity

Trump used a White House briefing about Wednesday night’s deadly collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over the Potomac River to rail against the Obama and Biden

Without providing any evidence, Trump harshly attacked Democrats for supposedly lowering standards for air traffic controllers, which he suggested could have led to the crash.

Donald Trump played the blame game at his first news conference since an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army helicopter Wednesday and crashed into the Potomac River. Among those in the president’s crosshairs were Barack Obama,

"Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch," Buttigieg wrote on X.

U.S. President Trump states that Buttigieg is a disaster and that diversity is not integral to the FAA's mission. He also criticizes the Obama administration's efforts to address diversity and equity in the FAA.

Trump fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and dismissed all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee as well last week. The Aviation Security Advisory Committee was created by Congress in 1988 after the PanAm Flight 103 bombing.