As Matt covered on Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan National Airport, close to Washington, D.C. There have been plenty of downright ugly takes from the left, over this tragic and mass casualty event, as well as some truly baffling ones. For the latter especially, we have Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to thank for such posts.
Although Swalwell expressed that his "thoughts" were "with all involved and their families," and that he was "[h]oping first responders find survivors," that wasn't how he began his post. Rather, he thought it necessary to share how he had arrived at the airport "minutes before an in-flight collision over the airport."
I landed at DCA this evening at 8:42pm, IAH—DCA, minutes before an in-flight collision over the airport.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 30, 2025
My thoughts are with all involved and their families. Hoping first responders find survivors.
Since Swalwell's post has been up for close to 16 hours now, there are close to 3,000 replies. Many have chimed in to remind the congressman that the collision is in no way about him.
Over at our sister site of Twitchy, Grateful Calvin highlighted some of the best responses as well as quoted reposts.
It is not about you bro main character syndrome is the worst https://t.co/rDh0GcLYdY
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) January 30, 2025
— Magills (@magills_) January 30, 2025
Imagine making a plane crash you weren't in about yourself...
— 0mega6 (@noCinErik) January 30, 2025
FIFY pic.twitter.com/7W3hNz2r8Z
— Dan Moody (@DanielRMoody) January 30, 2025
How about not making about this about yourself and offering prayers…I noticed you left that out of your statement
— KK Berd 🇺🇸 (@keny_berd) January 30, 2025
The congressman continued to post about the tragedy on Thursday as well, including calling out Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), who referenced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and questioned if that was to blame for the crash. President Donald Trump has been particularly forthright in blaming DEI, a topic that came up when he addressed the nation earlier on Thursday.
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"We are BETTER than this," Swalwell posted as he complained about Ogles' take, after he himself had just made the tragedy all about him and how he had had the good fortune to land safely.
It's also noteworthy that Swalwell was quote reposting Aaron Rupar, who had one of those particularly garbage takes over X just as news came out about the collision. Rupar had shared an unrelated headline about Trump making changes within the TSA. He also claimed that the collision "appears to be the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 9/11[.]"
Noun. Verb. DEI.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 30, 2025
Even in a tragedy, that’s the formula.
We are BETTER than this. https://t.co/TxCqwctGgO
headlines from a week ago as an incident near DCA appears to be the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 9/11 https://t.co/RpgVoI6RPa pic.twitter.com/5vTUJM8Chu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2025
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