The ironic “Let’s Go Brandon!” catchphrase – used by American conservatives to criticize President Biden – has officially be around for one year.
The humorous phrase, which originally stemmed from a NASCAR interview, is a G-rated substitute for “F— Joe Biden” chants that were popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. The explicit saying was recited at sporting events across the country in defiance of the president’s coronavirus mandates.
After Brandon Brown’s victory at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on October 2, 2021, a crowd unleashed “F— Joe Biden” chants during the young racer’s TV interview.
NBC reporter Kelli Stavast appeared to misunderstand what the fans were shouting, claiming instead they were saying “Let’s Go Brandon!” – unintentionally coining the phrase.
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The video soon went viral, causing “Let’s Go Brandon!” to become a popular rebuke of President Biden’s policies.
The innocuous-sounding phrase infuriated mainstream media pundits and journalists, with outlets from NPR to Washington Post labeling the term “vulgar.”
New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman objected to Congressman Jeff Duncan wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon!” mask on the House floor – implying it was disrespectful to Congress.
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“This is literally done so that he will get attention. And it’s working. It’s just that it involves being on the House floor, which once upon a time was supposed to be something more of a respected space, and a space that was treated differently,” Haberman said on CNN last year.
But conservative commentators defended the tongue-in-cheek phrase and argued that accusations of incivility were hypocritical.
“The ‘Let’s Go Brandon!’ angst is really something – you don’t get to spend decades normalizing the profane and politicizing every public square and then pretend decorum has been breached when you hear something you don’t like in an inappropriate setting,” journalist Mark Hemingway wrote on Twitter.
Biden supporters have attempted to take control of the phrase through a pro-Biden meme called “Dark Brandon,” which depicts a serious, vengeful Biden modeled after Batman in “The Dark Knight Rises.” The White House has also jumped in on this trend, which is used to celebrate Biden’s policy wins.
“Dark Brandon is crushing it,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates tweeted earlier this summer.
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