Video allegedly shows Allegiant Air removing passenger over 'Let's Go Brandon' mask

An Allegiant Air passenger was recently removed from a flight for wearing a mask with the phrase "Let's Go Brandon" displayed on it, according to a viral video posted on social media.

What happened?

In the video, posted by the popular Twitter account "Libs of TikTok," the passenger, an unidentified middle-aged man, can be seen arguing with a flight attendant while onboard a plane.

The attendant starts by asking the man to remove his mask over "the comment that you have written on there."

In response, the man says he has a right to express his beliefs, but the attendant replies, "I'm going to ask you to put a different mask on or I'm going to ask you to leave."

When the passenger insists that her demand is a violation of his rights, the flight attendant claims that his behavior is in violation of Federal Aviation Administration rules.

"Sir, I’m going to have you leave the aircraft now," the attendant states.

The two go back and forth for some time, but eventually, the passenger begrudgingly agrees to depart the aircraft. He can be seen attempting to film the flight attendant during the argument, but she repeatedly tells him he does not have permission to do so.

Though the message on the man's mask can't be clearly seen, according to Libs of TikTok, it said, "Let's Go Brandon," a coded tongue-in-cheek phrase that translates to "F*** Joe Biden."

Later in the video, when the man turns to retrieve his baggage from the overhead bin, a tiny scribbled message can be seen in the upper-left portion of the mask.

What else?

In a statement to Fox Business following the incident, Allegiant Air confirmed that the passenger was removed from the flight but claimed it was because he was "unruly" and "failed to comply" with federal mask guidelines.

"The video in question depicts part of an incident involving a passenger who failed to comply with repeated crew member requests to adhere to the federal face mask policy," the statement said. "The passenger was removed from the flight and issued a refund for his fare. Disregarding instructions from flight crew members is prohibited by federal regulations and is grounds for removal from a flight where such conduct creates an unsafe environment."

"The decision to remove a passenger is never made lightly and is always done with the safety of our passengers and crew in mind," it continued. "In April, the FAA adopted a zero-tolerance policy against unruly passenger behavior, which includes failure to comply with crew members’ instructions. We welcome the FAA’s renewed strong stance on unruly passengers, understanding the safety risk such incidents can create for both passengers and crew."