Karoline Leavitt effortlessly eviscerates Chuck Schumer’s ‘irresponsible’ theory about upside-down Delta plane

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt effortlessly eviscerated Senator Chuck Schumer for his ‘irresponsible’ suggestion that President Donald Trump was to blame for a plane crash in Canada.

On Monday night, a Delta plane carrying 76 passengers and four crew crashed at Toronto Pearson Airport en route from Minneapolis.

Miraculously, everybody on board survived, despite the plane setting alight and flipping upside down.

Schumer insisted President Trump’s recent cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration as part of his government purge contributed to the accident, sparking a swift rebuke from Leavitt.

‘It’s incredibly irresponsible for Chuck Schumer to say such a thing when the investigation is still underway,’ she told Fox.

‘This crash unfortunately took place in Canadian airspace with Canadian air-traffic controllers overseeing it.’

Schumer had argued that it didn’t matter where the plane landed, given it took off from the United States.

‘To those asking whether it matters that the plane’s destination was in Canada: The flight took off from Minneapolis,’ he said.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt effortlessly eviscerated Senator Chuck Schumer for his ‘irresponsible’ suggestion that President Donald Trump was to blame for a plane crash in Canada

In total, 18 passengers were treated for varying injuries. The youngest victim, reportedly a four-year-old, was taken to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto

Schumer insisted President Trump’s recent cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration as part of his government purge contributed to the accident, sparking a swift rebuke from Leavitt

‘The FAA was still responsible for inspecting the aviation equipment, and Trump just let go of FAA safety specialists… We keep seeing these incidents day after day.

‘Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA – including safety specialists – and making our skies less and less safe. Democrats are fighting to protect the flying public.’

Leavitt argued against that point too, maintaining that ‘no air-traffic controllers have been let go by Secretary Duffy or this new administration.’

She said: ‘In fact, Secretary Duffy has put great emphasis on hiring the best and the brightest air-traffic controllers who want to be part of the FAA.

‘President Trump signed a very strong executive order to ensure that the FAA and all federal government agencies are focused on merit and skill-based hiring.

‘We want the best and the brightest, the most competent individuals in positions especially of public safety at the FAA, the Department of Transportation, and all departments across this federal government, so we can best serve the American people.’

After the crash on Monday night, 18 passengers were treated for varying injuries.

The youngest victim, reportedly a four-year-old, was taken to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Hear control tower audio as a Delta plane crashed into TO airport

The Bombardier CR900 came in for the landing fast in blustery and windy conditions. Upon impact a fireball erupted and the plane appeared to tilt to one side

Two adults were airlifted to trauma centers nearby – one went to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and the other to St. Michael’s Hospital.

Shocking images from the scene show the plane upside down on the ice-covered runway.

And audio recovered from the air traffic control tower between controllers and a Medevac helicopter has shed light on the incident.

About 2.13pm on Monday, one official could be heard saying: ‘This airplane has just crashed.’

During a separate conversation between air traffic controllers and a Medevac helicopter, first responders in the skies revealed what they could see from above.

‘Just so you’re aware, there’s people also walking around the aircraft there,’ one person says.

‘Yeah, we’ve got it,’ another man responds. ‘The aircraft is upside down and burning.’

Aviation is under incredible scrutiny after several major crashes in the first few weeks of 2025 alone.

Schumer had argued that it didn’t matter where the plane landed, given it took off from the United States

Some 67 people died in a collision between a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet.

The causes are still under investigation, but early reports revealed staffing levels were ‘not normal,’ and that a single controller was handling helicopter traffic as well as airline traffic at the airport.

Days later a medical jet crashed in Philadelphia killing all six people on board.

Then, a small plane carrying 10 crashed over Alaska, again killing everybody on board.