Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is being criticized for praising the blocking of a merger that might have saved now defunct Spirit Airlines.
The news comes after the airline on Saturday announced it was out of business, a move that put 17,000 people out of work and stranded travelers across the nation. According to Breitbart News, the airline failed to secure enough funding from the federal government to avoid bankruptcy.
In a 2024 social media post, Warren wrote, “I’ve warned for months that a @JetBlue–@SpiritAirlines merger would have led to fewer flights and higher fares. @JusticeATR and @USDOT were right to stand up for consumers and fight against runaway airline consolidation. This is a Biden win for flyers!”
Social media users did not mince words in their replies to her on Saturday, with one person writing, “You should pay a severance to all the Spirit employees who lost their jobs tonight. Shame on you.”
“This post aged like spoiled milk!” another user commented, while someone else said, “You have zero business or airline expertise but yet you so conclusively make a stupid statement like this and kill an airline. Your party is the party of destruction.”
Yet another person lamented, “My closest airport only had Spirit flights. It was useful for many shorter trips.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also commented on the merger issue, writing, “THANK A DEMOCRAT.”
“JOE BIDEN AND PETE BUTTIGIEG bragged about blocking the JetBlue–Spirit merger… The very deal that could have SAVED Spirit Airlines,” he wrote, pointing out the result was less competition, customers scrambling, and employees losing their jobs.
“YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS UP,” Duffy concluded:
In a statement on Saturday, Spirit Airlines officials said, “It is with great disappointment that on May 2, 2026, Spirit Airlines started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately.”
“To our Guests: all flights have been cancelled, and customer service is no longer available. We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our Guests for many years to come,” they concluded.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also commented on Democrats praising the blocking of the merger.
“Had Spirit Airlines been allowed to merge with Jet Blue, it would have given them much more resiliency,” he explained in a social media post on Sunday:
“Thanks to @SenWarren, @PeteButtigieg, and all of their friends in the Biden Administration who backed their enthusiastic opposition to the Spirit-Jet Blue merger, dozens of regional airports will now lose service and thousands of jobs will now be lost,” Bessent added.
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