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October 14, 2020

Man in Trump gear booted from Southwest flight for removing mask to eat

[New York Post]

A black man wearing a “Trump 2020” mask was kicked off a Southwest Airlines after lowering it to eat a snack, a video appears to show.

The passenger — who was also sporting a “Black Voices for Trump” hat — is seen talking to a crew member while holding a bag of mixed nuts and wearing a face mask under his chin.

“Tell us the policy that says he cannot eat with his mask off?” a woman filming the video can be heard asking in the footage shared by SV News. “It’s the hat and the mask — it’s not the eating.”

A second video then shows the man leaving the Tuesday morning Tampa-to-Dallas flight.

The incident — which Southwest said came after the man repeatedly refused to wear a mask — was soon tweeted by Donald Trump Jr., who bashed the airline.

But a rep for Southwest Airlines insists the ejection came after multiple employees asked him to wear a face covering, according to the Washington Examiner.

“Our reports indicate that a Customer traveling on Flight 2632, with scheduled service from Tampa to Dallas, was asked repeatedly by more than one employee at different times to wear a face mask. The customer did not comply with our crew’s multiple verbal requests — including while boarding the flight before seated,” the company rep said.

He was removed from the flight and placed on another one, the rep said.

“The decision was made to return to the gate and re-accommodate him on a later flight to his final destination after receiving assurances he would comply with our face-covering policy. We regret the inconvenience the situation created for all involved, but our crew must uphold the well-being and comfort of all Passengers.”

Company policy requires all passengers age 2 and older to wear face coverings on flights to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

By Natalie O’Neill

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