California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made a simple yet gnarly response to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s odd suggestion that airline passengers should dress better to enhance their travel experience.
“Sometimes you just have to ask people, ’Hey, let’s go back to an era where we didn’t wear our pajamas to the airport. We actually might dress up a little bit,” Duffy said on Fox Business promoting a new “civility” campaign.
The Golden Age of Travel starts with ALL OF US.
Let’s be merry this holiday season as we fly! 🦃🌲
Dress up to go to the airport, help a stranger out, and be in a good mood.
We can bring civility back, it’s as easy as that! 🤝✈️ pic.twitter.com/CSAYe6ME31
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 20, 2025
Duffy’s advice on how to bring back civility at the airport became the center of mockery ― and users online used his comments to slam President Donald Trump.
“Bring back civility” says the guy whose boss just a couple days ago told a reporter “quiet, quiet piggy.” 🤷🏻♀️
— hols (@iamhols) November 19, 2025
Others pointed out that there are bigger issues than how people are dressed at airports.
Tell ya what, we’ll go back to wearing nice clothes when you don’t pack us in like sardines and go back to providing us with meals, pillows and blankets again.🙄
— Toby the Fuzzy Bear🐬🌊🐕🐾 (@MilesFuzzyBear) November 19, 2025
Duffy reiterated his campaign for air travel civility at a press conference Monday, urging passengers to dress “with some respect.”
“You know, whether it’s a pair of jeans and a decent shirt, I would encourage people to maybe dress a little better, which encourages us to maybe behave a little better,” Duffy said. “Let’s try not to wear slippers and pajamas as we come to the airport. I think that’s positive.”
“Don’t take your shoes off and put your feet on the chair ahead of you,” he continued.
Newsom’s press office responded to Duffy’s comments with a photograph of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walking down the aisle of a plane, dressed casually, but not wearing shoes or footwear and exposing his bare feet to other passengers.
The photograph of RFK Jr.’s feet was first shared in 2023. In a short clip shared by TMZ at the time, the now Trump official addressed the incident as “inexcusable” before the camera pans out to show his bare feet again, touching the airport floor.