White House Climate Envoy John Kerry will forever be known for being a hypocrite — and a viral photo just cemented that legacy.
The former 2004 Democratic presidential candidate has been one of the world’s biggest proponents of clean energy and climate change… yet has logged in thousands of miles in private jet flights that harm the environment.
Well, this week he stepped in it again.
A photo surfaced of the veteran politician without a mask on a commercial American Airlines flight. That’s a violation of President Joe Biden’s mask mandate.
“He was not eating, nor drinking,” wrote reporter Neil McCabe, who posted the photo to Twitter.
The Tennessee Star first reported the photo.
@TheTNStar Exclusive: Biden’s @ClimateEnvoy John Kerry, took off his mask as he settled into a book in his first-class seat just before takeoff today on an @AmericanAir flight Boston to DC. He was not eating, nor drinking. He was simply flaunting Biden’s mandatory mask policy. pic.twitter.com/t1wDq9OtxD
— ReporterMcCabe (@NeilWMcCabe2) March 17, 2021
According to Fox News, the witness who snapped the photo said Kerry initially had been wearing a mask at the gate, but quickly removed it after boarding the flight.
The plane was full, according to the witness.
“Being an elite hypocrite is hard work!” they said.
Top GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chimed in on the explosive photo, and said the revelations come as no big surprise.
The Biden ally “has a long history of imposing one set of rules on Americans and not following those rules… ”
Cotton is certainly not wrong.
The so-called climate defender recently came under fire for jumping on an emissions-belching private jet to Iceland to accept an award… for his climate efforts.
“I guess we can say it’s better that John Kerry finally decided to fly commercial as opposed to jetting around in Gulfstreams all around the world when he’s trying to supposedly solve the climate crisis,” Cotton told Fox News.
Kerry responded to the photo with some words of his own.
He’s calling the accusations “malarkey.”
Feels like there’s some St. Patrick’s day “malarkey” afoot on Twitter. Let’s be clear: If I dropped my mask to one ear on a flight, it was momentary. I wear my mask because it saves lives and stops the spread. It’s what the science tells us to do.
— Climate @ State (@ClimateAtState) March 17, 2021
“Let’s be clear,” he wrote. “If I dropped my mask to one ear on a flight, it was momentary.”
But the fellow passenger aboard the flight with Kerry vehemently disagreed with the former secretary of state’s assessment of the situation.
“His mask was off for five minutes. If five minutes is ‘momentarily,’ he’s correct.”
The passenger who snapped the photo responds: "His mask was off for five minutes. If five minutes is 'momentarily,' he's correct. Not sure being in a plane without a mask for five minutes is excusable." https://t.co/iIHEJ0qmNH https://t.co/KwtUwnCGqv
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) March 18, 2021
“Not sure being in a plane without a mask for five minutes is excusable.”
According to the Centers and Disease Control and Prevention, smaller respiratory droplets from breathing can hang suspended in the air for minutes to hours.
American Airlines said they are investigating the incident.
The Horn editorial team