NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- American Airlines kicked a New Yorker heading to President Donald Trump’s Oklahoma rally off a flight after he refused to wear a face mask, according to a report.
Brandon Straka, a “former liberal” who founded a campaign that encourages Democrats to leave their political party, said in a tweet on Wednesday that he was “removed from my flight for not wearing a mask.”
Straka was flying from LaGuardia Airport to Tulsa, with a layover in Dallas, the New York Post reported.
“So much for ‘please respect those who can not wear a mask,’” he tweeted. “When I pointed out this wasn’t a law I was removed.”
An American Airlines representative told the outlet that team members “asked (Straka) to deplane after he “refused to comply with the instructions provided by the flight crew.” The airline later announced he was banned from the carrier.
The airline requires passengers to wear face coverings on board and at the gate, but does make some exceptions for “young children and those with a disability or medical reason for why they cannot wear a face covering.”
In an interview with ABC News, Straka said he had a medical condition that prevented him from wearing a mask, but in an interview with CNN, he declined to say whether or not he had a medical condition, saying, “I find it difficult and prohibitive to wear a mask, yes.”