Face of Nation : Republicans are firing back after authorities in Nevada said they would investigate a protest staged at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Officials said in a tweet that the airport wasn’t properly notified of the protest and that its attorneys planned to investigate the incident, which quickly went viral thanks to a video posted on Twitter by Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald.
Airport officials were quick to apologize on Wednesday after roughly a dozen protesters confronted Elizabeth Warren, a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, on her way to a scheduled campaign appearance in Carson City.
GOP operatives immediately cried foul. They say the airport launched no such investigation, and failed to apologize, after Republican former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller faced down Democratic protesters at the airport last year.
Several replied to the airport’s tweet with videos of the Heller incident and calls for the airport to end its “hypocritical” handling of political protests. Jeremy Hughes, President Donald Trump’s Las Vegas-based regional political director, warned the airport to keep track of their emails in anticipation of an incoming public records request from the GOP.
“We won’t stand for your hypocrisy,” he wrote in a Thursday morning tweet. “Can’t wait to see who thought this was a good idea.” Nevada GOP spokesman Keith Schipper tweeted that airport officials’ response amounted to “crocodile tears” for Warren.
“The leadership at Reno-Tahoe International Airport is riddled with hypocrites,” Schipper added in a text message to the Reno Gazette Journal. “They sit on their hands and keep quiet when protests against Republicans break out in the airport, but wasted no time coming to the defense of Elizabeth Warren.”
Video of Wednesday night’s protest shows around a dozen protesters following Warren to her car and shouting at her about socialism. The protesters also urged her not to support Trump’s impeachment. At least one called her “Pocahontas” — an apparent reference to Trump’s nickname for Warren, who has apologized for identifying as a Native American in the past.
The clip had been viewed more than 945,000 times as of Thursday morning. In a lengthy statement issued late Thursday, the airport admitted neither protest was properly permitted and pledged to more rigorously enforce future events.
“While these events were different in tone and vitriol, they both highlight the need for the protest policy to be better enforced,” wrote airport spokesman Brian Kulpin.
