News/Commentary

Delta boots man from flight over Trump ‘hawk tuah’ girl meme t-shirt

September 1, 2024 | | Print Article

A Donald J. Trump supporter was reportedly given the boot from a Delta Airlines flight over a t-shirt featuring the former president and a “hawk tuah” girl meme that apparently rubbed somebody the wrong way.

A video posted to the r/delta Reddit group by a user that allegedly was recorded at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Florida on Saturday morning shows the confrontation between the passenger and airline staffers.

The shirt showed Trump’s likeness holding up two middle fingers with the caption “Hawk tuah spit on that thang,” referring to the hocking sound popularized by the internet personality’s vulgar oral sex-related description.

In the video – which has also been shared on X – the man is seen as he walks down the plane’s aisle with his carry-on luggage.

“I’m getting kicked off because of my shirt,” he says.

“And this is her reporting… stupid-ass Wendy,” referring to the airline employee who has seemingly revoked his right to travel freely because of his political leanings. Something that would have been perfectly normal in the pre-authoritarian version of America that long existed before the 2016 election.

The Reddit poster who goes by the handle of SKBeachGirl provided context that the man was minding his own business and waiting to board the flight when he was told by a staffer that someone was triggered by his t-shirt and that he had to change it or be barred from the aircraft.

“Crazy day in Sarasota airport, I was sitting next to a young man before boarding that had on a Trump shirt with middle fingers and a red coat came over and told him some lady complained and he had to change his shirt or he could not get on the plane,” the user said.

“He turned his shirt inside out, and we all boarded. Next thing I know, right before takeoff, a Delta employee comes on the plane and escorts him off the flight, he had flipped his shirt back to the decal side. IDK but I’ve seen way worse….girl half naked boarded and left alone,” according to SKBeachGirl.

According to the airline’s Contract of Carriage, “Delta may refuse to transport any passenger, and may remove any passenger from its aircraft at any time” and specifically refers to clothing, “When the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.”

X users reacted to the video.

Some may suggest that the video appears to be just another example of the institutionalized discrimination against Americans who dared to vote for the “wrong” guy, and he’s probably lucky that he wasn’t physically assaulted like so many other Trump supporters have been since 2016.

Chris Donaldson
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