Over a dozen disability advocacy groups are blasting President Donald Trump for baselessly implicating federal workers with disabilities in the deadly American Airlines plane crash near Washington, D.C.

Less than a day after the passenger flight collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport leaving no survivors, Trump told reporters said that diversity efforts at the Federal Aviation Administration were to blame. During a briefing on the crash, Trump cited a Fox News article from last year.

“It says FAA says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce and they want them in and they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so,” Trump said.

The information referenced in the article that the president cited has been in place on the FAA’s website since at least 2013, including the entirety of Trump’s first term, according to Snopes, the fact-checking website.

In a statement, disability advocates called Trump’s remarks and any suggestion that federal workers with disabilities may have been responsible for the crash “irresponsible, disparaging and wrong” and accused the president of using a tragedy to push his political agenda.

“Disabled employees, like non-disabled employees, are hired because they meet the qualifications needed to do the job,” reads the statement signed by the American Association of People with Disabilities, the American Council of the Blind, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, the National Disability Rights Network and others. “Diversity hiring initiatives seek to expand the pool of potential qualified talent for a role — they do not supersede the qualifications and skills that the role requires.”

Advocates noted that many news reports suggested that there were staffing issues at the air traffic control tower at the time of the crash. Nonetheless, they said the White House has doubled down on people with disabilities, releasing a memo about aviation safety highlighting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives including those focused on recruitment of people with severe intellectual disabilities. Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office to do away with so-called DEI efforts in government.

“There is no evidence that FAA hiring practices had anything to do with this accident, and suggesting otherwise is misleading and harmful,” said Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States. “People with disabilities — like all federal employees — are hired because of their qualifications, skills and ability to do a job. In moments like this, we should be focused on facts and supporting those affected, not pointing fingers at an entire community.”

Katharine MacFarlane, associate professor of law and the director of Disability Law and Policy Program at Syracuse University’s College of Law, said Trump’s comments could having lasting effects for a population that already struggles to get ahead.

“Working-age people with disabilities remain disproportionately underemployed, and false stereotypes about people with disabilities keep Americans who are ready and willing to work out the workforce,” said MacFarlane. “Suggesting that people with disabilities are to blame for the tragic plane crash near Reagan National Airport, as a result of DEIA-focused hiring efforts at the FAA, perpetuate harmful, false stereotypes, and frustrate disabled peoples’ efforts to obtain gainful employment and contribute to the economy.”