Maddow On Plane Crash: Pete Hegseth Screwed Up, Maybe Not Cut Out For This Job

Rachel Maddow: Plane crash at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC was caused by the collision of an American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people on a flight from Wichita, Kansas. It collided with a US Army Blackhawk helicopter that was carrying three crew members. And tragically, there appear to have been no survivors of the crash on either aircraft. And in the aftermath of this terrible incident, newly confirmed Trump administration, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth screwed up. Um, when as a service member, any service member is killed while in service, there is a strict policy at the Pentagon. The Defense Department gives no information about any service member who has been killed until at least 24 hours has elapsed since their death. They do not give their rank, their name, they do not give their age, they do not give their rank, they give no information about the service member in question. And the reason they do that is because the Defense Department, sadly but also obviously has to deal with delivering terrible news like that way more than any other element of our government does. And so they very much know how to do it and they have very strict rules about it. They, they are irreducibly strict, for example, about that 24 hour rule. Specifically, so they can be absolutely sure that the next of kin have been notified and had time to absorb the information before any public announcement is made about the death of a particular service member. So, so that's the rule hard and fast. No names, no ages, no ranks, nothing for 24 hours. That's not just for service members killed in combat, it's for any service member killed while in service, whether it's a health incident or an accident or a crime or a tragic plane crash, right? That's the rule. Nothing for 24 hours. And it's a rule for good reason, for reasons of of, of bear human decency, but also just competence at dealing with something very difficult. Nevertheless, Pete Hegseth today just went to the White House and blurted out that it was a captain and a staff sergeant and a chief warrant officer who all died. He just blurted it out this morning. And I don't know, I don't know. Maybe he is maybe he is not cut out for this job. Maybe he was hired for some reason other than merit, experience, temperament, character. I don't know. Maybe there was something else about him. I don't know. But that is how it's going so far, speaking to reporters about the crash today.

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Rachel, if "you don't know," then you should not say anything because it's just your opinion. It's fake news. Rachel Maddow should not host a news show 5 days a week, 3 times a day. She makes 25 million dollars a year for this. Maddow needs to stick to her podcast because almost all she does is repeat anti-Trump and anti-Republican propaganda and opinion.