Pro-Trump cheerleader banned for life from Delta sparks Twitter debate
A fervent supporter of President-elect Donald Trump was recently banned by Delta Air Lines for his rowdy behavior. His mid-plane effusive rally was caught on video by a passenger and went viral fairly quickly after he was heard to call out some passengers as “Hillary bitches,” then saying that Trump was going to be president and there was nothing they could do about it.
The man’s obnoxious behavior didn’t get him kicked off the flight from Atlanta to Allentown, PA, but did result in a lifetime ban by the airline. Delta issued a response, apologizing to passengers for not kicking the man off the flight, and it refunded every passenger’s ticket.
"The heightened tension in our society means that now more than ever we must require civility on our planes and in our facilities," said Delta CEO Ed Bastian in a letter to employees, saying that the airline made a mistake by letting the abusive passenger stay on the flight. "We must stay true to Delta's core values and treat one another with dignity and respect. We also must remain committed more than ever to the safety of our customers and our crew members. We will not tolerate anything less."
News outlets, like Good Morning America, debated whether or not the passenger should have been banned for life (answer: yes), and the video was viewed over 2.2 million times on social media.
The views prompted views on race from prominent tweeters like Seth MacFarlane, who tweeted: “If a brown person stood up and bellowed on a plane like this, he’d be kicked off, but that’s none of my business.”
Distractify noted that people then started tweeting at Delta, asking if the airline was going to do more. Media personality Michael Skolnik tweeted that Delta’s automated response was not good enough and as a person who works with brands for a living “it is imperative that you denounce any hatred to maintain the full trust of your customers.”
Skolnik seemed to be satisfied with Delta’s response, however, and it seems the twittersphere has moved on to other issues.
"Proud of @Delta for doing the right thing and never allowing the Trump supporter who harassed an entire plane to fly on their airline again."