Captain “Sully” Sullenberger saved 155 lives when he landed that plane in the river. Now he’s hoping his words can help save the entire country.
‘I don’t think he’s capable or willing to change. I think that he’s remarkably incurious and doesn’t value learning. Instead of talking to the current occupant of that office, I am talking to the American people. I’m saying, you are the ultimate check and balance. It is up to us... we cannot wait for someone to rescue us, we must do it ourselves. Everyone, everywhere, must vote in massive numbers.’
That’s how Sullenberger, a Republican for almost his entire life, responded when asked over the weekend what he would say to President Donald Trump if he had a chance to talk to him. “This is not normal,” he said. “I’m as concerned about the state of this nation as I have been in a half century.”
Sullenberger, of course, was the pilot who saved the lives of everybody aboard a US Airways Flight in 2009 by landing safely in the Hudson River. His story was turned into a movie starring Tom Hanks in 2016.
Watch the full interview:
That interview follows an op-ed he penned last week for the Washington Post, in which he slammed the president without ever writing his name.
“Today, tragically, too many people in power are projecting the worst. Many are cowardly, complicit enablers, acting against the interests of the U.S., our allies and democracy; encouraging extremists at home and emboldening our adversaries abroad; and threatening the livability of our planet,” he wrote. “Many do not respect the offices they hold; they lack — or disregard — a basic knowledge of history, science and leadership; and they act impulsively, worsening a toxic political environment.”
In conclusion, Sullenberger made the same plea to voters in his op-ed that he did on MSNBC: Get out there and vote.
“Years from now, when our grandchildren learn about this critical time in our nation’s history, they may ask if we got involved, if we made our voices heard,” he wrote. “I know what my answer will be. I hope yours will be ‘yes.’”
