Leave it to CNN for always messing up. It’s in their DNA at this point.
And a CNN analyst was caught making this grotesque statement about a national tragedy.
CNN Analyst Bakari Sellers Walks Back False Trump-Blame Post After Deadly Plane Crash
CNN analyst Bakari Sellers found himself in hot water Wednesday night after hastily blaming former President Donald Trump for a tragic plane crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The accident, involving an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet, sent shockwaves across the nation. But before the facts were even clear, Sellers rushed to assign blame—only to delete his post shortly after and admit he had made a mistake.
Sellers had posted on X (formerly Twitter), citing a partial headline from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Democrats. His post read, “8 days ago,” followed by a snippet from the committee’s statement: “Trump’s Dangerous Freeze of Air Traffic Control Hiring.”
However, the full statement, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon, read: “Ranking Members Larsen, Cohen Statements on Trump’s Dangerous Freeze of Air Traffic Control Hiring.”
Realizing the backlash, Sellers quickly removed the post and attempted damage control.
“I deleted the post because timing matters,” he wrote. “Politics at this point does not. I f***ed up, I own that.”
He continued, “I am very prayerful but I’m also very frustrated, upset, and disturbed with where we are as a country. I recognize, and I will do better.” Sellers added that the priority should be on rescuing survivors and preventing similar tragedies in the future.
Public Outrage Over Sellers’ Comments
Social media users were quick to condemn Sellers for what they saw as a premature and opportunistic attack.
“You deleted the post because dozens of Americans are currently being fished out of the Potomac, and rather than have reverence for the victims, you chose to dishonestly (and despicably) blame @realDonaldTrump,” one commenter wrote.
Another critic called Sellers’ reaction “pathetic,” stating, “A plane crash & your first response is to blame your political enemy. This is pagan neo-Gnosticism. A hiring freeze 8 days ago isn’t why a Black Hawk pilot failed to visually separate.”
Yet another user expressed outrage at Sellers’ rush to politicize the tragedy: “They are fishing corpses out of the Potomac, families are praying their loved ones miraculously survived, we haven’t the faintest clue yet what caused the crash, and Bakari is already frantically (and publicly!) looking for a way to blame it on Trump. What a broken human being.”
Why Incidents Like This Fuel Public Distrust of the Media
Sellers’ reckless post is a textbook example of why many Americans have lost trust in the mainstream media. Rather than waiting for the facts, he jumped at the chance to push a political narrative, exploiting a national tragedy before the full details had even emerged.
This kind of knee-jerk reaction is exactly what fuels the perception that mainstream media figures prioritize ideology over journalistic integrity.
Sellers’ retraction, while necessary, does little to undo the damage. His initial impulse was to cast blame on Trump—only backtracking when called out. This reinforces the belief that mainstream media personalities are more interested in scoring political points than delivering accurate information.
If major news outlets want to regain public trust, their analysts and contributors must exercise more restraint, fact-check their claims before posting, and prioritize truth over partisanship. Unfortunately, incidents like this only deepen the divide between the media and the American people.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
