Sean Duffy blames Biden for Newark airport disaster, but in addition says it ought to’ve been fastened throughout Covid — when Trump was in workplace | EUROtoday

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday largely blamed a string of issues plaguing Newark Liberty International Airport and the bigger flight system on the Biden administration — although he additionally appeared to by accident indict Trump for not doing extra.

As officers start to scale back flights to stem the disaster, Duffy stated in a press convention that Newark’s latest points — which have included radar outages, software program issues, flight delays, and an absence of air site visitors controllers — have been “left to us from the Biden-Buttigieg administration,” referring to the previous president and Pete Buttigieg, his Democratic predecessor.

“We didn’t have to be here. This did not have to be our story. Over the last four years, the last administration, they knew this was a problem,” Duffy added. “And by the way, during Covid, when people weren’t flying, that was a perfect time to fix these problems.”

That interval would additionally cowl 2020, Donald Trump’s ultimate 12 months in workplace.

Critics of the administration rapidly pounced on the assertion.

“Blaming Biden for Trump’s actions in his first term is an impressive new category of mental gymnastics,” progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen wrote on X.

Nonetheless, Duffy accused the earlier administration of failing to take motion and specializing in points like working at dwelling and inclusive language for air staff.

As NJ.com notes, the Biden administration additionally pushed Congress to approve funding for two,000 new air site visitors controllers, and exceeded its 2024 hiring targets for such staff.

Regardless of who’s accountable for the issue, fixes stay urgently wanted, as delays and under-staffing reportedly proceed at Newark, one of many nation’s busiest airports and a hub for United Airlines.

As few as three of a goal of 14 air site visitors controllers have been scheduled to work Monday night, The New York Times experiences.

In a press release to the paper, a Buttigieg spokesperson chastised Duffy.

“Secretary Duffy has a tough job,” the spokesperson stated. “But he needs to spend more time doing what the American people are paying him to do — fix problems — and less time blaming others.”

The Trump administration plans to scale back flights going out and in of the airport, set up upgrades to fiber-optic cables connecting it to its air site visitors management facility.

A sequence of aviation disasters have occurred since Trump took workplace, together with a collision between a army helicopter and a passenger jet close to Washington, however Duffy stated Monday it was a “falsehood” these issues have been rooted in adjustments that occurred since he took workplace.