As even blue states start to lift their mask mandates, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell clung to the airplane mask mandate on her Thursday show as she condemned the "toxic" discourse, "false notions of freedom," and Republicans for not being on board with a plan to create a no-fly list for unruly passengers.
During a segment with former Biden advisor Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Mitchell wondered why, almost two years into COVID-related regulations, people are over mask mandates. "Now, I want to ask you about also, you know, some of the political outrage over masking that still, you know, has infected our—our-- country," she complained.
Adding: "It really is toxic, to—to-- mix my metaphors here and Republicans are now dead fast against creating a federal no-fly list that some airlines want for unruly passengers saying that, you know, this is out of control. The flight attendants are at risk. Flights are at risk. The majority of recent infractions have been in relation to the mask mandate."
She then asked Emanuel, "What do we do with people so inconsiderate and so obsessed with their false notions of freedom that they refuse to wear masks on public transportation?"
The obvious answer is to lift the unscientific mandates as multiple airlines have requested (since the science shows flights are safe), but Emanuel didn't go for the obvious answer. Instead, he too said people's dislike of mask mandates is responsible for an increase in people running red lights:
Well, we should be clear, Andrea, this is a subset of what's become clearly a larger problem of people being frustrated, angry, fatigued, and taking it out in all sorts of ways that are often very violent. We've seen this, not just on airplanes but the mortality in car traffic accidents has gone way up because people are running red lights. They're being more aggressive and we shouldn't put flight attendants in the middle of it.
Moving on as if that nonsensical claim never happened, Emanuel agreed that something should be done to unruly and violent passengers, "if people can't control themselves, they shouldn’t have a privilege, they don't have the right to fly. It's a privilege."
Earlier in the segment, it was noted immunocompromised individuals can wear an N-95 mask to better protect themselves. Given that advice, there is no reason why everybody else should be forced to live as if it is still March 2020.
This segment was sponsored by Dove.
Here is a transcript for the February 17 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
2/17/2022
12:41 PM ETANDREA MITCHELL: Now, I want to ask you about also, you know, some of the political outrage over masking that still, you know, has infected our—our-- country. It really is toxic, to—to-- mix my metaphors here and Republicans are now dead fast against creating a federal no fly list that some airlines want for unruly passengers saying that, you know, this is out of control. The flight attendants are at risk. Flights are at risk. The majority of recent infractions have been in relation to the mask mandate. What do we do with people so inconsiderate and so obsessed with their false notions of freedom that they refuse to wear masks on public transportation?
EZEKIEL EMANUEL: Well, we should be clear, Andrea, this is a subset of what's become clearly a larger problem of people being frustrated, angry, fatigued and taking it out in all sorts of ways that are often very violent. We've seen this, not just on airplanes but the mortality in car traffic accidents has gone way up because people are running red lights. They're being more aggressive and we shouldn't put flight attendants in the middle of it. And they should not be enforcing these procedures. And if people have been violent, I do think there's got to be a way of identifying them and preventing them from flying. There has to be consequences for this behavior and that—and as I said flight attendants should not be in the middle. They are not enforcers. They're not deputized police and we need to protect them as well as the other passengers on a flight. And if people can't control themselves, they shouldn’t have a privilege, they don't have the right to fly. It's a privilege.
