Montana airport staff called on a security officer to deal Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz after he missed his flight and allegedly became frustrated with employees.
Mr Cruz missed his flight out of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport on Sunday, according to the Reddit user who shared the clip.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Cruz and the airport administration for comment.
The Reddit user who posted a short video of the interaction said Mr Cruz was “accosting airline employees ... after missing his flight” and that “law enforcement had to be called when he wouldn’t calm down”.
While it’s hard to hear in the video what Mr Cruz is saying, the Reddit user who posted the video confirmed that Mr Cruz said something along the lines of “don’t you know who I am?”.
Mr Cruz also “demanded to speak to a manager about a dozen times. Every bit as much of a [piece of s**t] in real life as you’d imagine,” the Reddit user said.
“One of our Public Safety Officers (PSO) was in the ticket lobby and was asked to assist with a frustrated passenger at the United ticket counter (which is not unusual). The passenger had missed the check-in window for his flight and re-booking options were limited out of Bozeman due to Spring Break,” Bozeman Airport Deputy Director Scott Humphrey told DailyMail.com.
“Once travel options were explained to the passenger, he was rebooked and departed Bozeman later that evening. Our PSO didn’t realize he was dealing with Senator Cruz until after the fact,” Mr Humphrey added.
Mr Cruz was quickly ridiculed for the incident, with many comparing it to when he travelled to Cancun, Mexico while Texans were dealing with power outages and freezing temperatures in February of last year.
“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends,” Ms Cruz said in a statement at the time. “Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”
“Ted Cruz is flipping out in a Montana airport, probably because he’s not in Cancun’s more spacious, warm airport,” Grant Stern tweeted on Monday.
“So Ted Cruz was apparently so out-of-control abusive to airline staff at the airport in Bozeman, Montana, that law enforcement had to get involved. It must’ve been snowing,” broadcaster Keith Olbermann wrote.
While it’s not clear why Mr Cruz was in Bozeman, Raw Story noted that there often are Republican fundraisers at Yellowstone Club and Big Sky.
Mr Cruz was due to return to Washington, DC for the beginning of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
