America is a corrupt place, and it’s not infrequent for that corruption to result in less-than-stellar results for the American consumer. Sometimes those poor results manifest as cheap, ineffective products. Other times, they may lead to more serious problems, like cancer-causing chemicals in your food. Sometimes corporate dysfunction has even been known to spur plane crashes. However, instead of facing up to the obvious facts (that America is run by greed-addled companies that would rather trade Americans’ safety and quality of life for enormous profits), rightwingers have spent the last several years arguing that many of the corporate failures that occur in this country happen because of companies’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Case in point: Earlier this year, when a helicopter collided with an airplane in Washington D.C., President Trump suggested it had occurred because a woman was piloting the chopper. Now, the White House is doubling down on its DEI focus. Using some $2 million in taxpayer money, Trump has hired Elon Musk’s former lawyer, Alex Spiro, to investigate whether DEI causes plane crashes or not. According to a source with knowledge of the investigation who spoke with The Atlantic, it does not. The outlet reports:
The investigation by Spiro, a partner at the elite firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, is due to conclude soon, a person familiar with the dynamics told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the work. Contrary to what Trump may hope, it’s not expected to find that programs aimed at ensuring representation for women and people of color are responsible for this year’s string of aviation disasters, including the January crash at Reagan airport, which killed 67 people and prompted Trump’s tirade against DEI.
Indeed, according to the report—which states that the $2 million in public funds will buy conversations with 15 “key stakeholders” and some sort of “legal analysis” that will provide a definitive answer to the DEI question—the probe has been disparaged by air traffic controllers. One controller who spoke with the magazine called the investigation a “waste of money,” adding that the money “could have gone toward pain-and-suffering raises for controllers.”
Yes, let’s file that under: Yet Another Really Fucking Stupid Waste of Taxpayer Money Invented by the Trump Administration. Of course, it’s also par for the course. In recent months, the White House has sought to purge the federal government of DEI programs and language, including at the Federal Aviation Administration. At the same time, it has also made other, worrying cuts to the federal agencies tasked with overseeing air travel in this country. It certainly seems possible (as federal unions have suggested) that those cuts would have a more substantial impact on air safety than any sort of diversity program. Gizmodo reached out to the Trump administration for more information.
Trump Wants to Spend $2 Million Investigating Whether DEI Causes Plane Crashes
