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John Kerry dubbed 'hypocrite' for maskless photo on DC flight, Internet asks if rules only apply 'to peasants'

'Rules For Thee Not For Me,' a user said, as American Airlines is set to investigate the climate czar's in-flight rule-breaking

American Airlines is investigating whether President Joe Biden’s climate czar, John Kerry, broke the rules and took off his mask on a recent flight to Washington D.C.

Tennessee Star, which first reported the story, published a photo of the bare-faced Kerry as he sat first-class on a flight between Boston and Washington. In response to a comment on the alleged photo of the climate envoy, the airline said that it was investigating the incident. “We require masks onboard our aircraft and are looking into this,” it wrote on Twitter.

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American Airlines requires all of its passengers to wear masks on board, in compliance with directives from the CDC and TSA and Biden’s January 21 executive order mandating face coverings during interstate travel. “Consistent with U.S. government directives, individuals who refuse to wear a mask may be denied boarding, removed from the aircraft or subject to penalties under federal law, in addition to being barred from future travel with American,” the airline said in a statement last month.

Travelers are allowed to remove masks while eating or drinking, but it doesn’t appear that the former Secretary of State had any food or beverages around him in the photo, during the Boston to D.C. flight, which is roughly an hour and a half long.

The envoy took to Twitter on Wednesday to state that if the mask slipped, it did so only briefly. “Feels like there’s some St. Patrick’s day ‘malarkey’ afoot on Twitter,” Mr Kerry said in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon. “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," he said.\

'He thinks his s**t don't stink'

People were livid about the envoy's decision to take his mask off on the flight. "Who does John Kerry think he is not wearing a mask on an American Airline. He thinks his S**t don’t stink!!" said one Twitter user. There were calls to ban Kerry. "@ih8American @AmeriAirSux Please ban John Kerry on his return trip from Iran ...," said a tweet. "ELITE HYPOCRITE! Climate Czar John Kerry CAUGHT on Flight without a MASK!!! https://youtu.be/5k1vPTHP6HI via @YouTube" said another.

"How long does it take to look into John Kerry not wearing a mask on his flight? You have a pic. He wasn’t eating or drinking. Your flight attendants have no issue being the mask police. I guess the rule only applies to peasants", said a tweet. "Rules For Thee Not For Me! Now that after John Kerry broke his boss rules he imposed last week in primetime address to continue wearing a mask, guess we ain’t going to be able to finally have that small bbq gathering on July 4th. Bunch of Malarkey!!!" said another.

'End the shenanigans!'

The Internet also wondered why Kerry, an American, was using words like 'malarkey', which means 'meaningless talk', or 'nonsense'. The word, which is of unknown origin came into use in the 1920s. There is an Irish name — Mullarkey, but a connection from the name to the word hasn't been established. "John Kerry is neither of Irish ancestry, nor entitled to use Gaelic-origin words like malarkey. End the shenanigans!" said a tweet. "I looked up the definition of "malarkey". Apparently, it doesn’t mean "elitist hypocrite". I found the definition of elitist hypocrite under "John Kerry"." said another.

'Remember someone is always out to get you'

Others thought the man should be cut some slack, since 'everybody has those days'. "I'm not a fan of John. Kerry at all. But give the man a break, covid sucks and we all forget to mask up at times," said one. 

"I accidentally walked out of my office a couple of days ago, to the water cooler, & realized I had forgotten to put my mask on BEFORE leaving my office. I panicked. Luckily, I encountered nobody. Also, it’s a good thing nobody was waiting on me to mess up," described another. "Always remember: someone is out to get you. There is no momentary dropping of masks in this time of gotcha politics," a tweet said.