GOP candidate Allen West admits to 'flicking' off man's mask during DFW Airport altercation
DALLAS - Allen West responded to questions about an altercation where he pulled a mask off a person, he says, yelled at him at DFW Airport.
West, the former chair of the Texas Republican Party, is running for governor.
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He says a man confronted him and called him an idiot for not wearing a mask as required by federal regulation inside airports.
West says he, in his words, flicked the man's mask off and mocked the man for wearing one.
During a press conference Thursday, he was asked if that type of behavior was beneath someone who wants to lead the state.
"It would never have happened if someone hadn’t confronted me. So maybe you should ask that person if they would stand up and start shouting at me and referring to me as an idiot," West said. "You need to respect me as an individual and my decisions. Do not verbally accost me or assault me and call me out and names. First of all, you need to know that I have the right to make those decisions about my body."
West was in a hospital with COVID-19 last month. He says he received anti-body therapy, was treated for pneumonia and then released in 48 hours.
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