By Sean Scully, States Newsroom
Airports in multiple states – including Leahy International Airport in Burlington – are refusing to run a video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming the ongoing federal government shutdown on Democrats.
In the video, Noem said “Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government” acknowledging the shutdown has affected operations, with many TSA employees working without pay.
“We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel. And our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” Noem said.
(Editor’s Note: ABC22/Fox 44 reports that a BVT Leahy Airport spokesperson emailed that the DHS video is not being played there: “As a publicly operated facility, the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport does not display content that could be perceived as political or partisan. The Department of Homeland Security video will not be shown on airport monitors.”)
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport both confirmed to Arizona Mirror that they are not displaying a video of Noem that was promoted by the White House as being played at “every public airport in America.”
Airport spokesman Ryan Smith said the video is not currently displayed at the airport due to the Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board policy, which states that “(a)dvertising that discusses the topics or subjects of politics or religion, social society, or economics is prohibited.”
“Consistent with airport policy, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport declined to post the video,” Jon Brodsky, a spokesman for the state’s largest airport, said. Sky Harbor also has a policy that does not permit political content.
The Michigan Advance reports that spokespeople for both the Flint Bishop International Airport and Grand Rapids’ Gerald R. Ford International Airport confirmed Monday afternoon that they have not been playing the video.
Heidi Groenboom, communications and events associate for the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority said that as of Monday afternoon, they had not received the video and that it was not playing at the airport.
New Jersey Monitor reports that the region’s three largest airports will not air the video, saying not only does it violate a ban on political advertising but it also violates the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits federal workers from engaging in politics on the clock.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bistate agency that oversees Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, and JFK airports, said airport-controlled screens will not play Noem’s video.
The 30-second spot violates the Port Authority’s longstanding policies that “prevent airing of politically partisan messages at our facilities,” a spokesperson said in a statement.