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Schumer Calls Flight Attendant a Bitch After Cell Phone Admonishment


By

John Del Signore

Published Dec 16, 2009

Modified Dec 16, 2009


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By

John Del Signore

Published Dec 16, 2009

Modified Dec 16, 2009


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Senator Chuck Schumer is doing damage control today after he was overheard calling a flight attendant a bitch. The Pool Party lover was sitting next to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand aboard a US Airways shuttle as the crew prepared to begin a flight from New York to Washington on Sunday. Both senators were talking on their cell phones when an unidentified flight attendant approached and told them to terminate their calls. Can you believe the nerve of this woman, telling famous ruling class elites to follow the rules?

Neither could Schumer, and he reportedly lost his cool after his request to finish his call were denied. He turned off his phone, but continued arguing with the attendant, who explained that "she doesn’t make the rules, she just follows them." After she walked away, Schumer turned to Gillibrand and called the attendant a bitch. It seems she was out of earshot, but an unidentified Republican aide heard it, and went running to Politico. Now Schumer's spokesman says, "The senator made an off-the-cuff comment under his breath that he shouldn’t have made, and he regrets it."

The witness also says that Schumer's phone rang again, but he didn't answer it, saying, "It’s Harry Reid calling. I guess health care will have to wait until we land." So now we can blame US Airways and Joe Lieberman for killing the public option! Of course, no politician swear-gate could top that one time when Vice President Dick Cheney was amicably approached by Senator Pat Leahy on the floor of the senate, only to have the Vice President tell him, "Go fuck yourself." Vice never apologized, but he did get it served back to him by a passer-by in post-Katrina New Orleans. In lieu of any Schumer video, here's that timeless classic:

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bitch

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senator chuck schumer

us airways


John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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