Charlotte airport won’t show DHS video blaming Dems for gov’t shutdown

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte Douglas International Airport is among at least a dozen airports in the country that won’t air a controversial video from the Department of Homeland Security.

The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released a video blaming the Congressional Democrats for failing to fund the government forcing the shutdown. Secretary Noem claimed the video would play in airports across the country.

“People just want to get to where they’re going safely, you know? They don’t need to see the Ice Barbie on the video screen,” Nester from Salisbury said.

CLT joins airports in Atlanta, New York City, Seattle and more refusing to play the video.

In a statement a spokesperson for Charlotte Douglas Airport says, “North Carolina municipal law as well as CLT Airport’s policy for digital content do not permit the referenced video. Additionally, TSA does not own any monitors at the airport’s checkpoints. The limited digital screens owned by CLT are designated for static content that supports wayfinding, provides essential travel information and promotes CLT’s revenue-generating services.”

“That’s not the role of the airport to pump out deliberate partisan messaging during the shutdown. There are people’s lives who are legitimately being hurt by the government not functioning right now,” Wesley Harris, Chair, Mecklenburg County Democratic Party said.

Some critics say the video could violate The Hatch Act, a 1939 law meant to ensure federal programs are administered in a non-partisan way.

“People want to have credibility that our airports, that airline security, that all these things are being are being done with whatever best and not for partisan means,” Harris said.

TSA workers and air traffic controllers are among the federal employees required to work without pay during the shutdown. Travelers hope both parties come to an agreement soon to end it soon.

“There’s people, hard working family members of mine that are not getting paid and still expected to do their job. If it were me, I wouldn’t be showing up either,” Emma Smock, traveler said.

A spokeswoman for Concord Padgett Airport says, “The City has not received a request from the Department of Homeland Security or the Transportation Security Administration to play a video, and Concord-Padgett Regional Airport does not have TVs in the security checkpoint area.”