Airports Across the USA Reject Trump Admin’s Illegal, Partisan Video
Public Citizen Calls on Three Remaining Airports to Refuse to Play DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s Illegal Video Blaming Democrats for Shutdown at Security Checkpoints
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost every major airport across the country has refused the Trump administration’s request to play a partisan video, recorded by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, blaming Democrats for the government shutdown and the impact it’s having on air travel, according to a compilation by Public Citizen.
All but three of the nation’s 25 busiest airports have refused to air the video, according to news reports and public statements reviewed by Public Citizen.
Today, Public Citizen is urging the three airports that may be airing the video to follow suit and reject this illegal and partisan video. These three airports are in Orlando, Houston and Detroit, but it is not confirmed that they are airing the video. In letters to the top officials at each of these airports, Public Citizen said, “You do not need to be, and should not agree to be, an accessory to these illegal messages.”
“The overwhelming refusal by the nation’s airports to air this partisan and illegal video is a welcome sign of civil servants performing their jobs with honor and defending basic democratic norms,” said Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman. “The Trump administration is trying to cram its authoritarian agenda down the throats of the American people. Each action refusing its unlawful demands, each insistence on upholding the rule of law, each affirmation of common sense, decency and fairness builds the next one and works to protect and strengthen our democracy in this. No one should be forced to make decisions like rejecting illegal, partisan videos from the Secretary of Homeland Security, but the airport officials who have done so deserve all Americans’ appreciation.”
Public Citizen also filed a Hatch Act violation complaint against Noem in relation to the partisan video, the 12th Hatch Act violation complaint the organization has filed since the government shutdown began.