KCI won’t air TSA video attacking Democrats over shutdown. They’re not alone
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KCI denied TSA video, citing nonpartisan advertising standards and traveler focus.
- Multiple major airports rejected the clip after officials objected to political messaging.
- Video framed shutdown as Democratic responsibility while highlighting unpaid TSA staff.
Greetings, Star readers.
Today, we’re diving into why KCI Airport has refused to air a controversial video of a Trump administration official blaming Democrats for the federal government shutdown. They’re not the only airport, either.
Next, we’ll get into:
• Medical records subpoenaed: Missouri’s new attorney general is demanding that Planned Parenthood turn over abortion patients’ medical records. Here’s why.
• Fraternity sanctioned: A KU fraternity was disciplined after a hazing investigation that came a month after a student was hospitalized. Listen to the 911 call that brought paramedics to the frat house after the student lost consciousness.
This week in politics
The Kansas City Aviation Department declined a request from TSA to air a video of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem placing blame for the ongoing government shutdown squarely on Democrats.
In the video released last week, Noem says that it is “TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe.”
“However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government,” the video says, “and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.”
A Kansas City spokesperson told The Star that the video did not meet the department’s advertising standards.
“The work of the KCAD is non-partisan and focused on making travel from MCI as simple as possible for flyers,” said spokesperson Jackson Overstreet.
Other major airports across the country, including in Arizona, New York, Oregon and elsewhere, have also refused to play the video at security lines.
The remarkable attempt by Noem and the Trump administration to insert a political message into the airport security experience comes two weeks into a shutdown that began after Congress failed to pass legislation to fund operations on Oct. 1.
Read the full story by my colleague Kacen Bayless.
More from this past week
• Federal workers in Kansas City who have been furloughed during the shutdown have a new concern — the Trump administration’s threat to cut their back pay.
• A KC-born activist on a ship bound for Gaza with aid was thrown into an Israeli prison. His father says he’s since been released and deported.
• Here’s what Kansas officials have to say — and what they won’t say — about the former Dwight D. Eisenhower presidential library and museum director losing his job.
Looking for more?
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That’s all for now! See you next week.
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