A Spirit airline passenger has alleged that he was forced to remove his electronic mask and replace it with a normal one as it featuring the glowing slogan, "Let's go Brandon," along with the letters FJB — the code for "F**k Joe Biden." The passenger, Adam Radogna, reportedly is a supporter of former President Donald Trump.
The incident happened when Radogna was flying from Cleveland, Ohio, to Tampa, Florida, on Friday, when the flight's crew objected to his electronic mask. Radogna took a video of the incident and posted it online, which has since gone viral.
Strange Request
On Friday, Adam Radogna was flying from Ohio to Florida and had just entered the flight when a flight attendant approached him and ordered him to remove his electronic mask and replace it with one provided by the airline. The video posted by Radogna shows the flight attendant handing him a surgical mask to replace the electronic mask that he was wearing.
When he asks the flight attendant why he needs to replace it, another flight attendant is overheard replying, "It's offensive... We won't go back and forth because it may be to certain folks. OK, go ahead and put on the blue one."
The phrase "let's go Brandon" is used by conservatives to attack president Joe Biden. It is not known if the flight attendant didn't like it or Spirit Airline has some policy.
After taking the mask from the flight attendant, Radogna then can be heard saying, "This is not America anymore."
The video continues and Radogna then faces the camera and says, "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."
The video of the incident has since gone viral garnering more than 145,000 views.
No Freedom
Radogna initially protests abut finally has to give in to the pressure created by the airline crew. While putting on the new mask, Radogna can be heard repeatedly saying to his co-passenger, "This is not America anymore."
The airline was then accused of infringing on his First Amendment rights. "Let's go Brandon" is a euphemism for "F*** Joe Biden," which was coined inadvertently in October 2021.
Many passengers also made a video fo the incident. In another video posted by a passenger, 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.
Later, Radogna recorded a video from the Tampa airport terminal, in which he demanded to meet with 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 in the next video.
"We live in America. This is Florida. This is the free state of Florida," he adds. "I'll make a scene."
The phrase 'Let's Go Brandon' has become a rallying cry to for conservatives to express their opinion that the mainstream media favors President Biden with paradoxical favoritism.
It was coined after a sports writer misreported a crowd chanting "F*** Joe Biden" as saying "Let's go, Brandon" during an event at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway in early October.
Since then, a Republican legislator has repeated the cry on the House floor, and Biden critics have used it frequently on social media.
Interestingly, a Southwest Airlines pilot was caught on film saying over the flight's intercom, "Let's go Brandon" in October.
