Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke has accused President Donald Trump of trying to "purge" non-White workers from the federal government.

"Our republic’s president, Donald Trump, chose to address a nation in mourning with only fiction and White supremacist ideologies," Clarke said during a Friday press conference in Brooklyn, New York.

"Yesterday, he spun that fiction for one reason and one reason alone, and that is to further his administration's purge of America's minority employees."

Her comments are in response to Trump’s press conference on the deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C. this week. A Black Hawk military helicopter crashed into an American Eagle passenger plane that was moments away from landing, likely killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.

WATCHDOG SUES BIDEN AGENCY FOR RECORDS AS LAWMAKER CALLS ITS VOTER WORK ‘A SLAP IN THE FACE’

Trump speculated whether diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts played a role in the tragedy during a press conference Thursday, though both he and other officials maintain the cause is not yet clear.

"It just could have been," Trump said when asked if he believed the crash was caused by diversity hiring. "We’ve had a much higher standard than anybody else. And there are things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden."

He claimed former President Joe Biden "went by a standard that seeks the exact opposite."

KASH PATEL HAMMERS ‘GROTESQUE MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ FROM DEMS AMID FIERY FBI CONFIRMATION HEARING

"But certainly, for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior. And that’s what we’re going to have," Trump said.

Investigations into the collision are still ongoing, and there currently is no evidence that points to DEI or other specific causes.

Though Trump did not mention race during his press conference, Clarke claimed Trump’s remarks were evidence of a "racist" agenda.

"We wait for the absolute truth of the matter. It is with great and righteous indignation that I recognize the comments and actions of one individual in particular, who did not attempt whatsoever to wait for those facts," Clarke said. 

"The individual who, rather than empathize with the families of the 67 victims of this heartbreaking disaster, attempt to unify a grieving country, or even offer his prayers, chose to capitalize on this tragedy by furthering his racist, insane agenda against America's diverse employees."

She later said, "He will continue with the vilification and demonization, he will continue with this madness, until our republic is as White and as male as this administration can bend and break the law to make it."

Democrats have hammered Trump for tying the collision to DEI policies under the last administration. 

Meanwhile, there are voices on the left pushing blame on Trump's aim to slash the federal workforce and other Republican policies.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Clarke's remarks.

The top Republican on the Senate health committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, faced criticism from fellow Republicans after he suggested his vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary is not a lock. 

Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said during closing remarks at Kennedy's second confirmation hearing of the week that he was "struggling" to confirm the HHS secretary nominee over his inability to admit vaccines are safe and don't cause autism. "A worthy movement called ‘MAHA,’" Cassidy said Thursday, "to improve the health of Americans, or to undermine it, always asking for more evidence, and never accepting the evidence that is there … That is why I've been struggling with your nomination." 

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., did not hold back his anger over Cassidy's remarks, saying, "RFK is going to run HHS whether you like it or not." The post included a photo of Cassidy and Kennedy shaking hands at Thursday's confirmation hearing.

TOP REPUBLICAN ON SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE SAYS HE'S ‘STRUGGLING’ TO CONFIRM RFK JR

"The Senate is ours, and the moment Trump decides he’s had enough of random senators delaying our mission, JD [Vance] is walking in and taking the gavel as president of the Senate," Higgins said. Vice President JD Vance would be the tie-breaking vote if the resulting tally goes along party lines and Cassidy and two other Republicans defect. Vance did so after GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's nomination.     

"There’s zero you can do about that," Higgins said. "We, the people, will not be stopped. We’re saving the country and RFK is part of the formula. So, vote your conscience, senator, or don’t. Either way, we’re watching."

TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS AHEAD OF CRUCIAL CONFIRMATION VOTES

GOP organizer and strategist Scott Presler said that if Cassidy did not vote for Kennedy, that he would "personally come to Louisiana" to organize a primary challenge against Cassidy in an effort to oust him. "We already have a home base in Iberia Parish," Pressler said. Meanwhile, a chapter of the Louisiana Republican Assembly replied to Pressler's threats, noting they were "ready to mobilize when needed."

Charlie Kirk, another GOP organizer and activist who is also a close ally of President Donald Trump, shared a slightly more measured condemnation of Cassidy. "I believe this was a sincere moment from Chairman Bill Cassidy," Kirk wrote in response to the senator's closing remarks at Thursday's hearing. However, Kirk added that he "respectfully" thinks that Cassidy "has this backwards."

"Many already don't trust vaccine manufacturers who enjoy legal immunity for any injuries they cause. Many already don't trust our big food producers and the ingredients they use. Many already don't trust big medicine, big hospitals, or big pharma," Kirk said. "RFK Jr. has said repeatedly he's pro-vaccine, but he's willing to ask the same questions millions of parents are asking right now about ramped-up vaccine schedules, harmful ingredients, and a blind trust in the manufacturers that are enriched by government mandates, even after COVID."

RFK JR RIPS DEM SENATOR FOR PUSHING ‘DISHONEST’ NARRATIVE ON PAST VACCINE COMMENTS: ‘CORRECTED IT MANY TIMES’

While Republicans were incensed by Cassidy's remarks, the president of Advancing American Freedom (AAF), a conservative nonprofit founded by Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence, applauded Cassidy's critical approach to Kennedy's nomination.

"It’s refreshing to see senators taking their advise and consent role seriously," AAF President Tim Chapman said when asked about Cassidy's comments. "We have separate branches of government for a reason, and nominees, such as RFK, who will be handling the largest amount of taxpayer dollars and controlling the federal response to the life issue deserve serious consideration. Every senator must treat this nominee with the same gravitas that Senator Cassidy is."

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Cassidy but did not receive a response by publication time. 

• Apple avoided a hit to its share price from DeepSeek, but it has another China-made problem.
• iPhone sales in the country have fallen again.
• An 11% slide in sales last quarter is raising concerns about Apple amid tough competition in China.

DeepSeek may not have triggered a sell-off panic for Apple, but the iPhone maker has another China headache.

While Apple avoided the pummelling handed to its Silicon Valley peers this week by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, the company had its own China-related problems on Thursday as it reported an 11% year-on-year drop in revenue in the country to $18.5 billion.

The slide in last quarter's sales is a sign of deepening struggles for Apple in its most important international market — and is raising concerns among some investors and analysts who had forecast better results.

In its last financial year, Apple's net sales in Greater China decreased 7.7% from $72.5 billion the previous year. The year before that, net sales decreased by 2.2%. Understanding if the decline can be stopped is now key for Apple watchers.

During Thursday's earnings call, CEO Tim Cook took the 11% China decline head-on by explaining that "over half of the decline" was driven by changes in "channel inventory."

He also had another explanation. "It's the most competitive market in the world," Cook said.

That competition has been a particular threat to Apple's smartphone sales in China, where domestic companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi have been enticing consumers with 5G-enabled devices that now appear to rival the capabilities of iPhones.

Figures from research firm Counterpoint show that in the last three months of 2024, Apple's smartphone sales fell 18.2%, while Huawei's grew by 15.5% as it was boosted by the launch of its latest high-end smartphone series, the Mate 70.

In a research note after Thursday's earnings, Logan Purk, senior analyst at Edward Jones, said that "sales in China were weak and will remain a point of debate among investors," particularly as Apple contends with "fierce competition in China for 5G phones."

That said, analysts also see an opportunity for Apple to counter the competition later this year once it rolls out one of its biggest bets to China: Apple Intelligence.

The tech giant's generative AI features, unveiled in June last year, are yet to be rolled out in China and are seen as a key driver of a huge upgrade cycle in iPhones in the future.

Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst, said in a note on Friday that his firm expects growth to "markedly rebound" in China to "double-digits" year-on-year starting in the June quarter, with the "anticipated April rollout" of the Apple Intelligence in the country.

His confidence was boosted by the fact that "markets where Apple Intelligence was available" saw clear year-on-year performance "outpace markets without this AI rollout."

Still, Apple's AI push in China remains untested, with domestic competitors in the country vying to show local consumers that their technology can match America's best.

Apple will need to show Chinese consumers that iPhones are fit for the AI era.

In its first update in the better part of a year, Samsung is rolling out a new Good Lock app with an updated design that’s ready for One UI 7’s rollout, and a major improvement over what was available before.

more…

Google might be working on a Find My Device app for Wear OS as revealed months ago in the Pixel Watch 3’s intro video.

more…

YouTube already has a 2x speed multiplier for videos that seem to go on a little too long. The company is furthering that with an experimental 4x speed multiplier, available only to YouTube Premium subscribers for the time being.

more…

Months after bringing the update to iPhone and iPad hardware, Blackmagic Camera 2.0 is now available for Android phones and, for the first time, selected Android tablets.

more…

Tampa Bay is denying staff interview requests from Jacksonville in what is widely being regarded as backlash from the Liam Coen HC chaos.

NASCAR driver Josh Bilicki and his wife Kaitlyn welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Cole Michael Bilicki, ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Russia claimed on Friday that its forces had seized the village of Novovasylivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.

"I put my dogs in my will for this exact reason," said one commenter.

Data from the United States Census Bureau has revealed which states are the most prone to natural disasters.

Musk previously hit out at Wikipedia after its annual report showed it spent 29 percent of its budget on "equity" and "safety & inclusion."

Robert Santos' decision comes halfway through his 5-year term as census bureau director and amid preparations for the 2030 census.

"Gus was clearly attacked by it, he is innocent," one TikTok user wrote.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Friday returnees will have access to government-backed loans to start businesses.

The Raptors would add an All-Star to the mix in this new trade proposal.

"The best footage is the dance floor," Davis Bourgeois Pepke told Newsweek. "The way it was captured feels like an episode of 'The Office.'"

According to Netwrix, in 2024, 84 percent of organizations in the healthcare sector spotted a cyberattack on their infrastructure in the last 12 months.

Jamie Harrison has argued that Joe Biden, despite his struggles, had earned the Democratic Party's loyalty.