Raging Morning Joe star takes aim at Democrats as liberal circular firing squad escalates

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Morning Joe's Katty Kay took aim at Democrats on Friday during discussions about the DC plane crash.

The analyst chided progressives for failing to 'push back' on President Donald Trump, who wildly blamed the crash that killed 67 on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in federal hiring.

Shortly before, fill-in host Jonathan Lemire accused the president of politicizing a 'national tragedy' to 'attack his foes', paving the way for Kay's comments.

The British journalist said she thought Democrats had missed an opportunity to call Trump, 78, out.

'But it looks like Donald Trump is feeling extremely powerful and realizing that even if he says something or goes too far, then he’s not going to get much pushback, right?' Kay pointed out, amid a still-young investigation.

Kay did mention former Department of Transportation head Pete Buttigieg, who called Trump's suggestion that DEI 'could have' played a part in the disaster 'despicable'.

Joining in on the bipartisan back-and-forth, Kay conceded, 'I mean, yes, Pete Buttigieg came out with a tweet saying that this was despicable.

'But you have not had a complete outcry, uniform, from members of the Democratic Party responding to what President Trump did.' 

Morning Joe's Katty Kay took aim at Democrats on Friday during discussions about the DC crash

The analyst chided progressives for failing to 'push back' on the president, following his comments about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) 

The journalist, who is both British and Swiss, claimed Trump 'effectively blam[ed] black, brown people, women, [and] people with disabilities' for the crash, which occurred over the Potomac Wednesday night and remains unexplained.

'I mean, let’s be honest,' she said of the declaration. 'That’s what diversity is, and that is what the president said - that black, brown people, women and people with disabilities caused this crash.

'I mean, where is the outcry?' Kay then asked, looking for 'a coordinated outcry from Democrats'.

'They’ve been tied up,' she declared, pointing to recent House grillings of Trump's cabinet appointments. 'They’ve been tied up in the hearings on Capitol Hill.

'It’s just this - this sense, that Donald Trump wants to have a fight,' Kay then thought aloud, airing her remarks to both Lemire and fellow host Willie Geist.

'The fact that he signed a memorandum even after that press conference doesn’t suggest at all that he thinks he went too far in that press conference, quite the contrary,' she claimed. 'He wants to push it even further.

'And he thinks that there’ll be, even if nothing happens that’s positive, there will be very little pushback from a Congress.'

She claimed that members of the Republican-dominated legislative branch are 'either cowed on the Democratic side or compliant on the Republican side.'

Shortly before, fill-in host Jonathan Lemire accused the president of politicizing a 'national tragedy' to 'attack his foes', paving the way for Kay's comments. The British journalist said she thought Democrats had missed out on an opportunity to call Trump out

Hours before, he linked diversity initiatives in federal hiring processes to the crash involving an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter - without any evidence 

'Brilliant people have to be in those positions,' Trump said of staffers within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as bodies were still being pulled from the Potomac River

The comments were echoed by commentators and pundits on Thursday, as they reacted to the president's comments. 

During his press conference on Thursday, the 78-year-old claimed he put 'safety' first, whereas Presidents Biden and Obama prioritized politics .

He also claimed Biden, 82, ended 'very powerful tests' for air traffic controllers during his term, and that standards were higher under his previous presidency.

The remarks linked diversity initiatives in hiring to the crash, which involved an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter, leading many to argue Trump's comments were baseless. 

'I think he owes the American people an apology,' Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen said, adding how he had been 'outraged' by the president's pointed response. 

'It was just grotesque the way he immediately politicized this terrible tragedy,' he said. 

'He was immediately pointing fingers and when he was asked by the press what the basis of his claims were, he admitted that he didn't have any,' the senator noted.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in on Capitol Hill, mere moments after the briefing concluded.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also criticized Trump's comments on Capitol Hill Thursday, saying it 'turn[ed] [his] stomach'

Rachel Maddow also weighed in to criticize the president's comments as 'baseless', as did former CNN anchor Jim Acosta 

'It’s one thing for internet pundits to spew up conspiracy theories,' he said. It’s another for the President of the United States of America to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified.

'It just turns your stomach.'

Buttigieg, who served under Biden and was mentioned by Trump, also chided the president for the unfounded theory.

'Despicable,' he wrote on X, after his successor was sworn into office Wednesday, just hours before the under-investigation collision. 

'As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,' he continued.

'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 went on as how Trump 'now oversees the military and the FAA', before claiming that his litany of executive actions showed his lack of understanding on the subject.

'One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe,' Buttigieg stated.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg jumped in on the action, saying Trump should 'be leading, not lying' during such a disaster after Trump called him out at an 11 am press conference

'Time for the president to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.

A newly unemployed Jim Acosta also took to time to slam the president, doing so on X.

'Harry Truman famously said “the buck stops here,”' the former CNN star, who quit on the air Tuesday, tweeted. 'Trump is trying to pass the buck and blame everybody but his administration for the DC plane crash,'

'This is a time for consoling the families and investigating the cause of this tragedy, not shameful finger pointing.'

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia also called Trump's comments 'stomach-churning', citing how he did not have evidence to support his claim.

'Can you imagine a more damaging thing to hear if you're suffering already than a president trying to make political hay out of something like this?' Kaine said in an interview on CNN.

'They were still searching for bodies in the Potomac when he was running off at the mouth about this.'

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell and Rachel Maddow also both weighed in on the crash, criticizing Trump for his comments. 

When asked for concreted evidence previous administrations' penchant for diversity played a part in the crash, Trump could only engage in conjecture. He told reporters it was 'common sense'. Pictured, the moment the military-owned Blackhawk flew into the passenger plane

O'Donnell said the president's theory was 'based entirely on his own profoundly ignorant, prejudiced guess.' 

Even before the press conference, progressives on CNN were politicizing the tragedy, with Bakari Sellers' posting a screenshot of a release from the House Committee on Transport and Infrastructure that announced a Trump-issued hiring freeze of air traffic controllers.

The article featured a statement from the committee’s ranking member Rick Larsen, warning about the potential threat to safety.

'Eight days ago,' the popular comment continued to tweet, before deleting within minutes.

Meanwhile, the crash - the worst in the US since September 11, 2001 - remains unexplained. DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly has called it an 'accident'.

The National Transportation Safety Board is handling the investigation.