JetBlue Removes Man for Harassing Ivanka Trump and Her Kids

By Dustin Siggins Published on December 22, 2016

A man angry at President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was removed from a JetBlue flight after harassing Trump’s daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and the couple’s three young children.

Originally reported by TMZ, the verbal assault was later verified by multiple media outlets. According to Mediaite, Trump was not targeted because of her work for her father’s campaign, but rather for his victory:

The soon-to-be First Daughter was on board a JetBlue flight from JFK when an β€œout-of-control passenger” began screaming, going as far as to β€œjeer” at her three children. β€œA passenger on the flight tells TMZ Ivanka ignored the guy and tried distracting her kids with crayons,” says the report.

The passenger, identified only as a man, reportedly said, β€œYour father is ruining the country” and β€œWhy is she on our flight? She should be flying private.” The man even had a child with him at the time of the incident; bizarrely, the daughter of our 45th President was sitting in coach with other family members according to the report.

The belligerent passenger, later identified as attorney Daniel Goldstein, apparently then yelled at JetBlue for removing him, saying, “You’re kicking me off for expressing my opinion?”

JetBlue tweeted that it got the man on the next flight, while a Trump Organization spokesman told CNN, “The story speaks for itself. It’s an incredibly unfortunate situation.”

Abusers Pretend to Be Victims

According to Forward.com, Goldstein’s partner Matt Lasner tweeted that he and Goldstein were the victims in the incident:

β€œMy husband expressed his displeasure in a calm tone, JetBlue staff overheard, and they kicked us off the plane.”

However, this was no random chance encounter. According to Twitchy and CNN, Lasner earlier tweeted proudly that Ivanka was targeted the minute she was spotted.  

“Ivanka and Jared at JFK TF, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil”

Lasner quickly deleted his Twitter account. CNN reported that Lasner had identified himself on that account as a book author and Hunter College professor. His faculty page currently brings up an error; a his personal website notes that his teaching focuses on urban planning and living. Forward reports that has Lasner marched against Trump and called him a fascist.

Marc Scheff, who allegedly witnessed the incident and is himself severe critic of the President-elect, disputed Lasner’s account in a Facebook post:

When he got on and saw her, sitting behind me, he said “oh my god. This is a nightmare” and was visibly shaking. He said “they ruin the country now they ruin our flight!” (Context: Boarding and therefore the flight was delayed because they needed to get on first through some other way)

He did not yell. He was also not what I would describe as calm. Agitated maybe. His husband behind him was very calm. His son is adorable and sharply dressed.

When the JetBlue staff went back to speak to the man I overheard Ivanka say to them “I don’t want to make this a thing.” My assessment is that she was happy to let the man take his seat. She handled the situation calmly and with class. Security made the call to remove the man.

And for good reason. The man’s calm husband had tweeted earlier that his husband was “chasing them down to harass them.”

Scheff agreed with the decision to remove Goldstein. “You know my politics, but I would have made the same call here,” he wrote.

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