A woman’s outrage over being bumped out of first class by “woke” American Airlines for a government official turned into delight when the passenger turned out to be Joe Biden and the former president signed a birthday card for her daughter.

Outrage Turns To Delight After Woman Gets Bumped From American Airlines First Class… For Joe Biden

A woman named Elaine Lehman took to X (formerly Twitter) yesterday to complain that she was bumped out of first class on a flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Philadelphia (PHL) for a “government official.”

Flight AA 2717 to Philadelphia. I’d like to know who the government official is who bumped me out of my first class seat. Our tax dollars hard at work y’all.

It turns out it was her husband who was bumped (or least he moved back to economy class) and the government official was none other than ex-President Joe Biden, who was in Minnesota to attend the funeral of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was gunned down with her husband by a crazed lunatic.

Her tune eventually changed:

Update: American Airlines is woke AF but Joe Biden signed my daughter’s birthday card so I guess it’s okay he bumped my husband out of first class.

Lehman later deleted these two tweets and made her account private, but the pictures she posted have been preserved:

Biden was escorted downstairs from the jetbridge onto the apron upon arrival in PHL.

Should AA Have Booted Out Passenger For Biden?

First off, I think it’s great that Biden travelled via commercial jet. Kudos for not flying private, even though I’m sure flying into Wilmington in a Learjet would have been so much easier.

Second, I don’t think it was appropriate to bump a passenger out of first class, even for a former president. I get that this was an Airbus A319 with only eight first class seats and probably sold out when the ticket was booked. But that means you fly coach or fly at a different time…the flight is only 2.5 hours anyway.

I’m reminded of the Sheila Jackson Lee story many years ago, when she mysteriously secured a first class seat after a first class passenger “cancelled” her reservation on the United app (something that passenger vehemently denied doing). I called upgrading elected officials at the expense of confirmed passengers “disgusting,” and my viewpoint on that has not changed. The late Congresswoman from Houston was known for demanding VIP treatment when she flew on United.

> Read More: Congresswoman Poaches First Class Seat, Accuses Victim of Racism
> Read More: United Insists It Did NOT Boot Woman From First Class for Congresswoman

Finally, I quite agree with One Mile At A Time that “often meeting someone humanizes them. We have a lot more in common than we have differences.” Indeed, this story has a happy ending and that picture with Biden or the signed birthday card is a treasure.

It’s actaully a great example of what happens when red and blue sit down and talk. May we see more of this going forward…

CONCLUSION

A passenger was booted out of first class on American Airlines for former President Joe Biden. While I don’t think that even Presidents should be able to bump out confirmed passengers, I appreciate how anger turned into delight in the small A319 first class cabin.