Republicans’ Flight Delayed by Trump’s Tacky Birthday Bash Rehearsal

A planeload of lawmakers has been infuriated by President Donald Trump’s big UFC birthday event. The president has turned the South Lawn of the White House into a huge octagon for the nation’s 250th and his own 80th birthdays. It is scheduled to have an airshow as part of the spectacle, and practice for the airborne performance meant that airspace in Washington, D.C., was closed for an hour. This meant that a Delta Air Lines plane carrying Republican Reps. Lisa McClain and Bob Latta, and Democrats Debbie Dingell, Rashida Tlaib, and Shri Thanedar was left stranded on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday, as they waited to take off for Detroit, Michigan. It comes as Congress takes a week’s recess, which tends to see senators and representatives travel back to their home states. Politico’s Playbook reports that the lawmakers were angered by the incident. “There were planned, temporary airspace holds put in place while crews performed a rehearsal in relation to Sunday’s historic UFC Freedom 250 event,” a White House spokesperson told the newsletter. The UFC fight takes place on Sunday, which also happens to be Trump’s birthday.

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