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"Let's Go Brandon" is a political slogan that has been widely used as a minced oath for "Fuck Joe Biden" in reference to Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States.

Chants of "Fuck Joe Biden" were heard at sporting events beginning in early September 2021. "Let's Go Brandon" came into use after NBC reporter Kelli Stavast incorrectly described a chant of "Fuck Joe Biden" by spectators at the 2021 Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway as "Let's go, Brandon" during a televised interview of driver Brandon Brown on October 2, 2021, which occured after Brown had won the race that was shortened due to darkness. The slogan has become well known through use by Republican politicians and critics of Biden. The phrase quickly spread to popular culture, with rap songs using the phrase placing high on record charts.

Origins

Anti-Biden chant

In early September 2021, chants of "Fuck Joe Biden" were reported to have broken out in a number of college football games in the Southern United States after President Biden's average approval rating declined to 44 percent. Later that month, the phenomenon spread north to universities including Notre Dame and Wyoming. Similar anti-Biden chants took place during the September 2021 Ryder Cup.

The Washington Examiner reported "Fuck Joe Biden" was chanted by some attendees at a Megadeth concert in September 2021, and at an October 2021 protest in New York City in response to a vaccine mandate for educators in New York City.

Brandon Brown interview

On October 2, 2021, racing driver Brandon Brown was being interviewed by NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, following his victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks 300 race which was shortened due to Darkness. Fans were chanting "Fuck Joe Biden", and this became clearly audible to viewers of the broadcast. On the live broadcast, while wearing a headset, reporter Stavast stated, "You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's go, Brandon!'" It is unclear whether Stavast misunderstood the chant or whether she intentionally misquoted it as "Let's Go Brandon".

Early spread and reactions

Footage of the interview went viral, leading to the adoption of the phrase by critics of President Biden as an expression of antipathy toward him. It has also been reported as a protest against perceived liberal bias in mainstream media, based on speculation that the reporter's description of the crowd's chant was intended to conceal anti-Biden sentiment.

Conservative commentators Ben Shapiro and Tomi Lahren spread the phrase via Twitter, and Brandon Brown lightheartedly tweeted: "To all the other Brandons out there, You're welcome! Let's go us". The slogan has been printed on clothing, a billboard, and a banner flown behind a plane over a pro-Trump rally in Iowa.

According to The Independent, on October 19, "The anti-Biden war cry 'Let's Go Brandon' is no longer a conservative media phenomenon, it's infiltrating mainstream popular culture and is now number one and two on iTunes, knocking Adele's new single into third place."

On November 5, 2021, NASCAR president Steve Phelps denounced any implied association with the slogan, saying that the organization does not want to be associated with politics on either the left or the right. He also threatened legal action against the use of NASCAR trademarks on any merchandise featuring it.

On November 12, 2021, when asked about Biden's views regarding the phrase, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded, "I don't think he spends much time focused on it or thinking about it."

On November 20, 2021, the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said of the chant, it "isn't shocking, surprising or clever. It reveals a moral bankruptcy of those who chant it even in church".

Usage

Analysis

John McWhorter analyzed the linguistic attributes of the chant in The Atlantic, likening the use of "Brandon" to a hlonipha – a substitution of a forbidden word. He wrote that the anti-Biden euphemism has a similar tone to the word SNAFU, which stands for "Situation Normal ― All Fucked Up", or to the word "cuckservatives" (a portmanteau of "cuckold" and "conservatives") which is used by traditionalist conservatives and alt-right sympathisers to describe mainstream conservatives perceived as being in fact liberals. McWhorter described the Let's Go Brandon phenomenon as "simply fascinating", and a "wild, woolly kink in the intersection of language, politics, wit, and creativity."

Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote in The Atlantic how supporters of President Joe Biden attempted to create a meme of their own, "Thank you, Brandon". She found this slogan "embarrassing", as it does not make sense for Biden supporters to replace his name with someone else.

In a November 23, 2021 opinion piece for The Washington Post, the former chief speechwriter for president George W. Bush, Marc Thiessen commented that the chant was tame compared to what has been said about other presidents. Initially, Thiessen was not a fan of the chant, but concluded his comments with, "it is a perfectly harmless and humorous way for Americans to express their frustration at a flailing — and failing — presidency."

Politics

Republican politicians have used the phrase publicly. On October 21, Republican congressman Bill Posey concluded remarks on the House floor with "Let's go, Brandon". Texas Governor Greg Abbott used the phrase in an October 22 tweet. He attributed the popularity of the phrase to frustration with Biden's "disastrous policies", including his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the southern border. The following week, Republican representative Jeff Duncan wore a face mask with the phrase imprinted on it on the House floor. Senator Ted Cruz posed with a "Let's Go Brandon" sign that was hung in Houston at the 2021 World Series. The anti-Biden chant appeared in Georgia when the Atlanta Braves hosted game 4 of the World Series with former President Donald Trump in attendance.

Chants of the phrase occurred at the election headquarters of Glenn Youngkin during his victorious 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election on November 2, 2021. On the following day, while providing commentary on Youngkin's upset victory, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said "When you look at the Biden — when you look at the Brandon administration", to cheers and applause from the crowd, who began chanting "Let's Go Brandon." A few weeks later DeSantis purposefully chose Brandon, Florida as the venue to sign an anti-vaccine mandate bill. The choice of venue was motivated by the "Let's go Brandon" slogan.

On November 4, 2021, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert wore a red dress with "Let's Go Brandon" in white lettering on the back while meeting with former president Donald Trump. The dress bore similarities to the "Tax the Rich" dress worn by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at her Met Gala appearance two months earlier. Boebert tweeted a photo of the dress, saying, "It's not a phrase, it's a movement! #LGB".

During President Biden's visit to offer condolences and view the destruction of the tornado outbreak in Dawson Springs and Mayfield, Kentucky on December 15, 2021, there were some shouts of "Let's Go Brandon" from small groups of protestors.

In Wellington, New Zealand, during a COVID-19 protest, a man was seen with a sign with the phrase, "Let's Go Brandon & Jacinda", in reference to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Music

Soon after the chant went viral, an anti-Biden rap song called "Let's Go Brandon" was recorded by Loza Alexander. The song first went viral on TikTok before rising to number one on the iTunes Store Top Hip-Hop/Rap Songs list, and number two on the platform's Top Songs list, on October 18, 2021. Alexander's song reached number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of November 6, 2021.

Another song with the same title was released by Bryson Gray, a Christian conservative rapper, reaching number one on iTunes. It debuted at number 28 on the US Hot 100. The music video for Gray's song, which included the line "Biden said the jab stop the spread, it was lies" (in reference to COVID-19 vaccination efforts by Biden) was taken down by YouTube for containing "medical misinformation". A country rap song of the same name was recorded by Forgiato Blow. On October 27, iTunes had different "Let's Go Brandon" recordings at numbers one, two, four and eight.

Other

On October 28, 2021, in Falls Church, Virginia, two electronic road signs were broken into and changed to post the anti-Biden slogan.

On October 29, an on-duty airline pilot for Southwest Airlines allegedly said "Let's Go Brandon" over the public address system. The Southwest incident came one week after the union representing United Airlines pilots sent out a memo discouraging pilots from using the emergency frequency 121.5 for communicating personal opinions, because they had been using it to say the phrase.

On November 1, NBC News reported that Palmetto State Armory, a firearms company, had begun marketing ammunition stamped with the slogan.

On November 3, city officials in Brandon, Minnesota, reported that six city signs had the words "Let's go" placed in front of the name of the town.

In early November, a crypto coin called "Let's Go Brandon" (LGB) began trading.

On October 24, at the North Carolina State Fair, North Carolina Republicans sold buttons featuring the phrase; four days later, the Trump campaign began selling T-shirts featuring the phrase. In December 2021 a chain of five stores in New England selling Let's Go Brandon and pro-Trump clothing and other merchandise were re-branded as Let's Go Brandon Stores.

On December 4, 2021, during the annual Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade in Yorktown, Virginia, a boat decorated with Christmas lights spelling out "FJB" and "Let's Go Brandon!" was initially declared as winning "Best in Show" at the conclusion of the event. Later, the Yorktown Foundation issued a statement about the boat having an "overt political message" and disqualified the entry.

See also

• FDT (song) – hip hop protest song whose title is an initialism for "Fuck Donald Trump"
• Thanks, Obama - slogan which gained popular use through viral memes protesting the presidency of Barack Obama
• Maggie Out - An anti-Margaret Thatcher chant used during Thatcher's time as prime minister of the United Kingdom.

References

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