Martina Navratilova gives 2-word reaction to Donald Trump blaming Joe Biden & DEI for fatal Washington DC plane crash

Tennis champion Martina Navratilova has thundered against US President Donald Trump over his actions following a crash between an American Airlines regional plane and a Blackhawk military helicopter on a training flight that killed 67 people in Washington DC.

Trump, without presenting any evidence, blamed the incident on the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies of the US Federal Aviation Administration. He has also ordered a review of all federal aviation hiring and safety decisions following the crash.

"The FAA diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities," Trump claimed after the incident [via Reuters]. "That is amazing."

Martina Navratilova has reacted to a comment on the situation by former Democrat senator Al Franken who blasted Trump's action as "disgraceful" and accused the President of trying to distract from the fact that he had not appointed a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator until after the fatal crash. The previous administrator, Mike Whitaker, had resigned 10 days before the incident.

"This is disgraceful. Though it may not have stopped the crash, Trump is distracting us from the fact that he did not appoint a new FAA Administrator until today. The former FAA Administrator was pressured to step down when Trump took office because Elon Musk didn't want him to keep going after SpaceX," wrote Franken on X.

Seemingly in agreement with Franken's assessment, Martina Navratilova accused the Donald Trump administration of being "liars".

"Lying liars," the 18-time Grand Slam winner thundered in a response to Franken's tweet.

Following the incident, Trump named Chris Rocheleau as acting FAA administrator. The eventual replacement will have to be confirmed by the US Senate. Notably, anti-DEI efforts are a centerpiece of Trump's second administration's policy and he issued an executive order on the first day of his presidency banning DEI hiring in the Federal workforce.

Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova, who is outspoken on politics on social media, has vehemently criticized the new US President and his policies on social media.

Martina Navratilova strongly opposes US President Donald Trump and his policies

File Photo: Martina Navratilova at the Roland-Garros 2024. - Source: Getty

Martina Navratilova often voices her political opinion, particularly on the Elon Musk-owned X. Much of her ire is directed at Trump, who has been making sweeping changes in US policy since he took over from Joe Biden last month.

Before the last US presidential election, Navratilova openly endorsed Democrat nominee Kamala Harris for the top job and criticized Trump and his proposed policies. When counting showed an imminent Trump victory, the tennis champion reacted with dismay.

"Trump won. Fear and anger won. And a country that was born as a racist patriarchy proved beyond any reasonable doubt it still is a racist patriarchy. Not sure when this ceases to be true," she wrote on X.

Navratilova has been extremely vocal against the second Trump administration's policies. She has also slammed him over his comments linking DEI measures to the crash, writing:

"He is just vile."

She has also described the President as a "dictator". A staunch supporter of women's rights, Navratilova has never shied away from her scathing assessment of the 47th US President and has expressed her discontentment more than once.