New York Post | by Yaron Steinbuch | January 31, 2022
A passenger aboard a Spirit Airlines flight claimed he was forced to remove his electronic face mask featuring the glowing slogan, “Let’s go Brandon,” along with the letters FJB — the code for “F— Joe Biden.”
Adam Radogna, a supporter of former President Donald Trump flying from Cleveland, Ohio, to Tampa, Florida, on Friday, posted a viral video showing him being handed a surgical mask to replace the one he was wearing.
When he asks a flight attendant why, she is heard saying, “It’s offensive … it can be to some people, so we’re not going to go back and forth. Go ahead and put the blue one on, OK?”
After wearing the blue mask over his scrolling one, Radogna goes on to say, “This is not America anymore.”
“I was told I need to turn off my mask that says ‘Let’s go Brandon’ on it and my shirt is fine, though. The mask is not. The shirt says the same thing as the mask,” he says to the camera.
The man was told by the Spirit flight attendant that the “Let’s go Brandon” mask was offensive and that he had to wear one of the ones that Spirit provided. TikTok
His sweatshirt shows the slogan written over the former president’s face.
In another video, he is heard telling a Spirit employee who asks what the Brandon slogan means that “it’s my name” before another flight attendant asks not to be recorded.
“Isn’t it freedom of speech to have this mask on?” he asks her.
Radogna recorded another video later from the terminal in Tampa, where he asked to speak to a supervisor and threatened to sue the airline.
“It’s freedom of speech, sir. You’re not going to play with me today, OK? I’m allowed to wear a mask. The shirt says the same thing, ‘Let’s go Brandon.’ It’s not political. You made it political,” he says.
“We live in America. This is Florida. This is the free state of Florida,” he adds. “I’ll make a scene.”
He tells a supervisor, who appears to understand his argument, “If I had BLM on here or something else, would it have been fine for her?”
The Post has reached out to Spirit for comment about the incident.
The controversial “Let’s go Brandon” slogan is the not-so-secret code for “F–k Joe Biden” among the president’s detractors.
The passenger later made another video after he landed threatening to sue the airline for making him wear a second mask.TikTok
The phrase took on a life of its own, as conservatives used it as a rallying cry to demonstrate their belief that the mainstream media treats President Biden with paradoxical favoritism.
It emerged after an NBC Sports reporter, during an interview with NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, claimed fans were chanting “Let’s go Brandon” when they were actually shouting the slur against the commander-in-chief.
In October, a Southwest Airlines pilot was captured on video saying “Let’s go Brandon” over the flight’s intercom.
In another video, he is heard telling a Spirit employee who asks what the Brandon slogan means that “it’s my name.”TikTok
“Southwest does not tolerate any behavior that encouraged divisiveness, as it does not reflect the Southwest Hospitality and inclusiveness for which we are known and strive to provide each day on every flight,” the airline said in a statement at the time.