WATCH: Biden Demands Americans ‘Show Some Respect’ for Flight Attendants Enforcing Mask Mandates

President Joe Biden demanded that Americans “show some respect” for flight attendants attempting to enforce mask mandates on airplanes, as he announced a doubling of fines for passengers who refuse to comply with federal rules.

Biden announced the new fines in a speech Thursday aimed at pressuring 80 million unvaccinated Americans to comply, imposing new federal vaccine mandates — including on private employers — and tighter rules for interstate travelers.

Biden said:

Today, tonight, I’m announcing that the Transportation Safety Administration, the TSA, will double the fines on travelers that refuse to mask. If you break the rules, be prepared to pay. And by the way: Show some respect. The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong. It’s ugly.

The president did not cite any examples, but from the numerous stories and videos of confrontations on airlines that have emerged since the start of the pandemic, it is apparent that passengers are not always the ones at fault. In one incident, a flight attendant ejected a family from a flight after attempting to enforce the mask requirement on a two-year-old child.

Earlier this year, Biden’s own climate czar, John Kerry, was photographed not wearing a mask on a commercial flight.

Biden also announced new vaccine mandates on employers, including private businesses not involved with the government. Critics have questioned the legality and constitutionality of such mandates, which will likely head to court.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.