The satirical tweet was prompted by the announcement that masks were no longer required on public transportation.
QUICK FACTS:
- New York Times reporter Victoria Kim sent a message to Twitter user Jared Rabel following a satirical tweet about the lifting of mask mandates on flights, according to Fox News.
- Rabel’s tweet joked that his son was distressed after flight attendants called it “MAGA airspace” following the announcement that masks were no longer required.
- Kim sent a message to Rabel asking if he would be willing to talk about his experience, seeming to indicate that she believed flight attendants were claiming the air for President Donald Trump.
WHAT WAS SAID BETWEEN RABEL & THE NYT REPORTER:
- “I boarded a plane today with my son and mid flight, the pilot announces that the mask mandate is over. Flight attendants pulled off their masks and sneezed directly into their hands while screaming ‘this is MAGA airspace.’ My son turned to me in tears. I don’t know what to do,” Jared Rabel’s tweet read, which he said was “satire.”
- “Hi Jared, I’m a New York Times journalist, I’d love to speak to you over the phone about what happened on your flight this evening,” Kim wrote to Rabel.
- “For those asking, this is 100% legit. I’m as surprised as you,” Rabel told his followers. He tweeted a screenshot of the reporter’s message. “I was pretty upset about the whole thing. Unfortunately, this is satire and only somebody at the New York Times would believe,” Rabel told the reporter via direct message.
BACKGROUND:
- The quote about “MAGA airspace” appeared to be a joke harkening back to the false hate crime perpetrated by Jussie Smollett, as CNN reported. At the time Smollett claimed that two men tied a rope around his neck and assaulted him claiming that the area of Chicago he was walking in was “MAGA country.”
- Meanwhile, a federal judge shot down the previous mask mandate for public travel, and multiple airlines released the information to their crews while still in flight, some of whom announced it to their passengers, prompting rejoicing from many, according to The New York Post.
