Biden Thinks Black People Can't Fit in Cheap Airline Seats or Can't Afford Better Ones
As the Democrats search for an issue that’ll resonate with a midterm electorate that seems to care about things that swing Republican — the economy, crime and education — President Joe Biden has alighted upon a concern that touches us all: racist airline seats.
What — you haven’t noticed? Every time you wedge your body into the middle seat on a Delta 737 and endeavor to keep it there all the way from LaGuardia to O’Hare, you don’t notice the iniquitous racial dynamics at play? And heaven forbid you pay for a slightly more comfortable seat; we can see your white privilege showing from on the ground.
If you’re still so dense you need this explained to you further, let the liege of lucidity, President Biden, lay this out further:
Joe Biden just said that fees on airplanes for extra leg room in front mostly affect people of color ?
pic.twitter.com/UmRQnlRQOR— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2022
“Some airlines, if you want six more inches between you and the seat in front, you pay more money, but you don’t know it until you purchase your ticket,” Biden alleged during a speech on Wednesday.
“Look, folks, these are junk fees — they’re unfair and they’re hitting marginalized Americans the hardest, especially low-income folks and people of color. They benefit big corporations, not consumers, not working families. And that changes now.”
You’re darn tootin’, Mr. President! Whatever it is you were saying.
Biden’s jihad against racist airline seats came during a White House address Tuesday in which Biden decided what voters really wanted to hear their president take aim at was so-called “junk fees” that the president said are “taking real money — real money out of your pockets — real money out of the pockets of American families,” according to a transcript.
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“Today, my administration is announcing new actions to lower the cost of everyday living for American families, to put more money in the pockets of middle-income and working-class Americans, to hold big corporations accountable,” Biden said.
Not only is this the worst Hail Mary from a desperate president before a midterm election that I can remember, it also has no set enforcement mechanism yet and likely won’t work when it does.
The only concrete step that seemed to have any resonance was one in which financial regulators were cracking down on surprise bank fees for overdrafts and bounced checks — practices the administration argues are unlawful, according to Reuters. Other than that, Biden merely said the Federal Trade Commission was working on “a rule to crack down on unfair and deceptive fees across all industries.” These charges include processing fees for hotels and concert tickets.
All that means, however, is that the cost gets shifted around; even assuming these fees are “unfair” or “surprises” — and there’s a decent argument they’re simply a service provider breaking down where your money is going during a given transaction — a $10 processing fee added to a $90 concert ticket now becomes a processing-free $100 concert ticket. This does less than nothing to rein in costs, to “lower the cost of everyday living for American families, to put more money in the pockets of middle-income and working-class Americans, to hold big corporations accountable.” You lose, sir.
But, let’s talk for a bit about those racist airline seats.
Apparently, our president believes that commercial airliners work like Dr. Who’s TARDIS phone booth: They’re all much bigger on the inside and can fit as many people as an airline CEO’s little heart desires. Thus, they don’t really have to charge you for that extra six inches of legroom; it’s all corporate greed — and they don’t inform you when you book those seats.
That last part, that “you don’t know” about the fee for extra legroom “until you purchase your ticket,” is a statement that would be slapped with the [citation needed] footnote if it appeared on Wikipedia. However, why do these fees “hit marginalized Americans the hardest, especially low-income folks and people of color?”
Twitterers had a variety of explanations for this.
a) Biden thinks black people and other minorities can’t fit into airline seats the way white people can:
Biden: black people don’t fit in cheap airplane seats https://t.co/y0nsyeelMI
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 26, 2022
I’m assuming that line wouldn’t go over well with the minority base, however — so they’re not going to get more explicit about it than that.
b) Biden thinks every commercial jet is like Air Force One.
Airline ticketing is now “racist.” Easy for a dude to say who flies an Air Force 747-200 to Delaware every weekend. Has there ever been a more tone deaf president? @JoeBiden https://t.co/OPI26GD3XH
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) October 26, 2022
Given his incapacity to remember what happened more than five minutes ago, this isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.
c) Adding the words “people of color” to any issue automatically makes it Very Important™, at least to Democrats.
Tell me the last thing you did…and add “people of color hardest hit.” That seems to be the Democrat strategy these days…just tack on “people of color” to any old statement.
I just made a sandwich. #PeopleOfColorHardestHit https://t.co/hOiNV8hh3u— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) October 26, 2022
Whatever the case, National Review’s Jim Geraghty neatly summed up what should be takeaway here:
Less than 2 weeks until the midterm elections, and the president of the United States is in Washington, talking about the amount of legroom on airlines. https://t.co/2bfQKlK0wb
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) October 26, 2022
It’s not just that cramped airline seats aren’t racist. It’s that, with both parties making their closing arguments before the midterms, Republicans are focusing on the economy, crime and education. The president is focusing on “junk fees” and 737 legroom equity.
If this is the best Biden can muster, things are worse than we thought.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
