A top CNN commentator recently made a controversial social media post connecting Donald Trump to the American Airlines-Black Hawk crash over DC, a tragic incident that resulted in the loss of 67 lives.

Bakari Sellers’ initial reaction to the crash involved sharing a screenshot of a press release from the House Committee on Transport and Infrastructure. The release highlighted a hiring freeze of air traffic controllers that was reportedly implemented by Trump.

The press release included a statement from Rick Larsen, the committee’s ranking member, expressing concerns about the potential safety risks associated with an aviation hiring freeze.

‘Eight days ago,’ Sellers captioned the post on X, as the cause of the crash remained unexplained.

Almost immediately, he was met with outrage from other users, who criticized him for politicizing a deadly tragedy.

‘Americans are currently being fished out of the Potomac, and rather than have reverence for the victims, you chose to dishonestly (and despicably) blame,’ one such user said, pointing to footage being aired on Sellers’ own station.

‘The freeze has not affected any ATC command centers ANYWHERE after January 20th. There is no bottom low enough for @CNN,’ another pointed out, poking holes in the pundit’s controversial suggestion.

After others continued to criticize him, Sellers took down the post. He went on to offer an apology on Wednesday night, less than two hours after the crash occurred.

Bakari Sellers’ first response to the American Airlines-Black Hawk crash was to post a screenshot of a new release from the House Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, which announced a Trump-issued hiring freeze of air traffic controllers

The article featured a statement from the committee’s ranking member Rick Larsen, warning about the potential threat to safety from an aviation freeze. Seen here, Sellers’ since-deleted tweet

‘I deleted the post because timing matters,’ Sellers wrote after the backlash. ‘Politics at this point does not. I f***ed up, I own that. 

‘I am very prayerful but I’m also very frustrated upset and disturbed with where we are as a country,’ he continued. I recognize, and I will do better.

‘The only thing that matters is rescuing the survivors, and ensuring this never happens again,’ he added, suggesting he brought up his unfounded conspiracy too soon.

But onlookers on X continued to chide him, with some pointing to factual inconsistencies in his comments.

‘You can’t train an air traffic controller in 8 days,’ one user wrote, while offering Sellers a four-letter expletive.

‘You deleted the post because dozens of Americans are currently being fished out of the Potomac,’ added another in direct response to the apology.

‘[A]nd rather than have reverence for the victims, you chose to dishonestly (and despicably) blame [Donald Trump].’

‘People are dead. How can you be so full of political hatred,’ sniped someone else, sharing footage of DC resident Hamaad Raza revealing to reporters how his 26-year-old wife was one of the 64 passengers on the plane.

Amid a torrent of criticism, Sellers took down the post within two hours of the unexplained crash, apologizing for politicizing the tragedy

Pictured: Emergency response units attempting rescue operations last night. That search has since turned into a recovery effort as officials have confirmed there were no survivors

‘The hiring freeze did NOT apply to ATC,’ another added. They went on to state how ‘even if the headline was accurate, using the death of 60+ innocent people to get a political dig in an hour after their death is as low as you can go.’

Meanwhile, the midair crash that saw a military-grade Black Hawk helicopter fly into the American Airlines fight remains unexplained.

The National Transportation Safety Board has since taken over the investigation, which will look into what caused the worst American aviation incident since the events of September 11, 2001.

So far, 27 deceased plane passengers have been recovered from the Potomac, where both crafts fell last night.

A single also-deceased victim from the helicopter was also recovered, with no one officially identified.

However, officials have confirmed there are no survivors.

With no immediate answers as to what the military aircraft had been doing prior to the crash, Trump took to social media within two hours of Sellers’ post with his take.

On his platform Truth Social, the president publicly questioned the actions of the helicopter crew and air traffic controllers, as others offered theories elsewhere.

Within minutes, Sellers was met with outrage on social media for his admittedly premature and politicized first response

‘The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,’ Trump, dealing with his first disaster since reassuming the presidency last week, stated.

‘The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time,’ he went on, adding how it had been a ‘CLEAR NIGHT’ over the famous river.  

‘The lights on the plane were blazing,’ he wrote. ‘Why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. 

‘Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane,’ he continued. ‘This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!’

Meanwhile, Sellers has continued to repost updates from others about the situation, but has not commented on his deleted post further.

The Army also issued its own statement – saying the crew on the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the commercial craft had been ‘fairly experienced’ and that all aboard were soldiers. 

The Pentagon has begun notifying their next of kin, officials added. The three had been on a training flight near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when the crash occurred.

Roughly two hours after Sellers, Trump offered his own take on the disaster, asking the public why the military helicopter involving in the crash ‘didn’t go up or down, or turn’

‘The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time,’ he added, pointing out how it had been a ‘clear night’. A separate helicopter is seen over the Potomac Thursday morning amid recovery operations

As it stands, the incident is the first fatal US commercial airline crash since 2009, and remains under investigation.

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly called the crash an ‘accident’ on Thursday morning.

‘We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,’ he told reporters alongside the Potomac. 

‘At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors.’