(NewsNation) — Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert says President Donald Trump has been having to “fix messes” created under his predecessor on air traffic control safety.
“What we just went through for four years was really a lot of neglect, and Joe Biden was not as present as we see President Trump,” Boebert told NewsNation’ Leland Vittert on Tuesday.
Boebert’s comments come amid a string of aviation incidents in recent weeks.
Newark Liberty International Airport had a 90-second air traffic control blackout at last week. The incident sparked massive panic among workers.
Controllers at a Philadelphia control center, who were responsible for monitoring air traffic in and out of the airport, lost radar and communications with the flights. “They were unable to “see, hear, or talk to them,” the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said, according to The New York Times.
The blackout and communication breakdown led to hundreds of flights being delayed or canceled. Three dozen flights were also diverted that day.
Aviation experts say air safety issues are years in the making
In a statement Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was working to make sure current telecommunications equipment is “more reliable in the New York area.”
There have also been staffing issues with air traffic controllers.
“This is not a Trump administration problem overall. President Trump has been in office about 15 weeks,” Boebert said, adding that the issues stem from “DEI hires” under Biden.
“Joe Biden created this massive message. President Trump has to go into every single agency, every single program, and fix the messes that were created,” she said.
Boebert also defended Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, saying he has “hit the ground running” to help turn things around.
