Southwest Airlines is conducting an internal investigation into reports that one of its pilots said “Let’s go, Brandon” over the intercom during a flight
The airline released a statement Sunday condemning the reported incident and announcing an internal investigation. The pilot allegedly said “Let’s go, Brandon” — an anti-Biden phrase popularized after a reporter misheard a crowd chanting “f*** Joe Biden” — during a flight from Houston to Albuquerque.
“The Southwest Team takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, safe, and respectful environment for the millions of customers who fly with us each year. Southwest does not condone Employees sharing their personal political opinions while on the job serving our Customers, and one Employee’s individual perspective should not be interpreted as the viewpoint of Southwest and its collective 54,000 Employees,” the airline said in a statement.
“Southwest is conducting an internal investigation into the recently reported event and will address the situation directly with any employee involved while continuing to remind all employees that public expression of personal opinions while on duty is unacceptable,” the airline continued. “Southwest does not tolerate any behavior that encourages divisiveness, as it does not reflect the Southwest Hospitality and inclusiveness for which we are known and strive to provide each day on every flight.”
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One of the first reports of the incident came from Associated Press reporter Colleen Long. The alleged incident quickly spread online as liberal pundits and others condemned the use of the “Let’s go, Brandon” phrase. A CNN contributor likened the phrase to “long live ISIS.” As The Daily Wire reported:
CNN analyst Asha Rangappa promptly referenced the murderous ISIS terrorist group while addressing the pilot’s reported comment on social media. “As an experiment, I’d love for an [sic] @SouthwestAir pilot to say ‘Long live ISIS’ before taking off,” she tweeted. “My guess is that 1) the plane would be immediately grounded; 2) the pilot fired; and 3) a statement issued by the airline within a matter of hours”
Rangappa, who is also a senior lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former FBI agent, provided another example of legacy media critics indiscriminately comparing people presumed to be conservatives to terrorists, a trend that has metastasized from pro-life leaders to concerned parents at school board meetings.
Others hurled terrorist accusations at the airline, which relaxed its COVID-19 vaccine mandate after being forced to cancel more than 1,800 flights. Lindy Li, whom Vanity Fair describes as a “Biden operative,” tweeted Saturday that the airline’s “CEO opposes Biden’s vaccine mandate & won’t fire anyone who defies it, thus condoning bioterrorism.” Li, who also called the pilot “mentally impaired,” recently appeared on CNN to denounce the “heinous” Texas pro-life law that protects unborn children with a fetal heartbeat from being aborted.
“Southwest pilot screams out ‘Let’s go Brandon’ over the intercom,” tweeted Turn Texas Black falsely. “RT if you won’t book with Southwest Airlines unless this pilot is fired.”