US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is under fire after a photo surfaced on the internet appearing to show the ex-Secretary of State without a face mask on during an American Airlines flight.
Kerry was quick to claim in a tweet on Wednesday that he had dropped his mask "to one ear on a flight" and "it was momentary", referring to "some St. Patrick's day 'malarkey' afoot on Twitter".
The claims followed American Airlines saying in a statement that they are "looking into" the alleged incident.
"The crew did not observe Secretary Kerry without a mask, and they were not alerted by other customers to a non-compliance issue. We continue to review the matter and we are reaching out to Secretary Kerry to underscore that all customers are expected to wear masks for the duration of their trip".
Donald Trump Jr. immediately hit out at Kerry, slamming him as "liberal hypocrite" "flouting" President Joe Biden's federal mask mandate.
"His mask is off and he isn't eating or drinking. Will he be fined for breaking the law and banned from flying American Airlines like regular citizens would be?", the ex-POTUS' son tweeted.
He was echoed by an array of netizens who also expressed frustration over Kerry apparently dropping his mask, with one Twitter user describing Biden's climate tsar as a "habitual liar".
"John Kerry gets to fly without wearing a face mask, but a four-year-old autistic child and his family are given the heave-ho. This is Biden's America", one more netizen wrote on their Twitter page.
Some, however, questioned the whole story, insisting that the picture shows a certain man rather than Kerry, and that "his mask is hanging from his ear". Several netizens were involved in guesswork wondering whether the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate had already been vaccinated or not.
Earlier this month, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new set of guidelines stipulating that fully vaccinated people can meet indoors without wearing masks or adhere to social distancing measures.