How let's Go Brandon Became Code For Insulting Joe Biden

• Let's Go Brandon" originated from an incident during a NASCAR race in October 2021. During a post-race interview, the crowd could be heard chanting "F*** Joe Biden" in reference to the U.S. President Joe Biden. However, the reporter misinterpreted the chant as "Let's Go Brandon," and that phrase gained traction on social media.
• As the phrase "Let's Go Brandon" gained attention, it quickly became a euphemism used by some individuals who opposed President Biden's policies or had negative opinions about him. It became a way for some to express their dissatisfaction with the President in a veiled manner, particularly on social media platforms where explicit language may be censored or frowned upon.
• "Let's Go Brandon" has been used in various contexts, such as hashtags, memes, and as a slogan on merchandise. Some individuals who oppose President Biden have used it as a form of protest or to mock him, while others see it as a way to express their political beliefs or frustrations with his administration.
• It's important to note that the phrase has been controversial, with some viewing it as disrespectful or inappropriate, as it originated from a profanity-laden chant. It has also been criticized for being deceptive or disingenuous, as it is widely understood to be a code for insulting President Biden despite its seemingly innocuous surface meaning.
• As with any political slogan or catchphrase, the interpretation and usage of "Let's Go Brandon" can vary depending on one's perspective and beliefs. It has become a symbol of the deep political divide and polarization in the United States, with proponents seeing it as a form of expression and critics viewing it as derogatory or disrespectful towards the President..
• America’s presidents have endured meanness for centuries; Grover Cleveland faced chants of “Ma, Ma Where’s my Pa?” in the 1880s over rumors he’d fathered an illegitimate child. Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were the subject of poems that leaned into racist tropes and allegations of bigamy.
• “We have a sense of the dignity of the office of president that has consistently been violated to our horror over the course of American history,” said Cal Jillson, a politics expert and professor in the political science department at Southern Methodist University. “We never fail to be horrified by some new outrage.”There were plenty of old outrages.

• “F—- Trump” graffiti still marks many an overpass in Washington, D.C. George W. Bush had a shoe thrown in his face. Bill Clinton was criticized with such fervor that his most vocal critics were labeled the “Clinton crazies.”
• The biggest difference, though, between the sentiments hurled at the Grover Clevelands of yore and modern politicians is the amplification they get on social media.
• “Before the expansion of social media a few years ago, there wasn’t an easily accessible public forum to shout your nastiest and darkest public opinions,” said Matthew Delmont, a history professor at Dartmouth College.
• Even the racism and vitriol to which former President Barack Obama was subjected was tempered in part because Twitter was relatively new. There was no TikTok. As for Facebook, leaked company documents have recently revealed how the platform increasingly ignored hate speech and misinformation and allowed it to proliferate.
• A portion of the U.S. was already angry well before the Brandon moment, believing the 2020 presidential election was rigged despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, which has stood the test of recounts and court cases.
• But anger has now moved beyond die-hard Trump supporters, said Stanley Renshon, a political scientist and psychoanalyst at the City University of New York.
• He cited the Afghanistan withdrawal, the southern border situation and rancorous school board debates as situations in which increasing numbers who were not vocally anti-Biden now feel that “how American institutions are telling the American public what they clearly see and understand to be true, is in fact not true.”
• “Let’s go, Brandon” outside a Virginia park on Monday when Biden made an appearance on behalf of the Democratic candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe. Two protesters dropped the euphemism entirely, holding up hand-drawn signs with the profanity
• On Friday morning on a Southwest flight from Houston to Albuquerque, the pilot signed off his greeting over the public address system with the phrase, to audible gasps from some passengers. Southwest said in a statement that the airline “takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment” and that “behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive is not condoned
• Trump hasn’t missed the moment. His Save America PAC now sells a $45 T-shirt featuring “Let’s go Brandon” above an American flag. One message to supporters reads, “#FJB or LET’S GO BRANDON? Either way, President Trump wants YOU to have our ICONIC new shirt.”
• Separately, T-shirts are popping up in storefronts with the slogan and the NASCAR logo.
• And as for the real Brandon, things haven’t been so great. He drives for a short-staffed, underfunded team owned by his father. And while that win — his first career victory — was huge for him, the team has long struggled for sponsorship and existing partners have not been marketing the driver since the slogan.