It is a hostile slogan which, in less than six weeks, invaded the United States, displayed in stadiums or on caps, spreading to the aisles of Congress in Washington: now no American is unaware that “Let’s Go Brandon” means “Fuck You Biden”.
The speed with which this vulgar coded formula flourished in an ultra-polarized country illustrates the deterioration of the post-Donald Trump political debate. It also reflects the fall in popularity of his successor in the White House.
Where do these three words come from? Simply from a local interview with a racing driver, Brandon Brown: victorious in a competition on a Nascar circuit in Alabama, the 28-year-old driver was interviewed on October 2 by an NBC reporter. Raising her voice to cover the rumor rising from the stands, the woman says, “And you can hear the crowd chanting: Come on Brandon!”
In fact, the crowd can be heard quite clearly chanting: “Fuck You Biden!” (“Biden, go fuck yourself …”).
Viral slogan
The journalist’s error, perhaps a little hard of hearing, combined with the bliss of young Brandon, was enough for the sequence to go viral. And the slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” has become an easy, watered-down way of bemoaning Biden, without repeating the “F. word ”, a coarse word usually banned from any educated speech.
This is how we have seen in recent weeks leading Republican politicians take up the sulphurous formula, arousing condemnations from the Democratic camp.
Among them is the very Trumpist Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, whom some are already seeing winning the White House in 2024.
In a speech in West Palm Beach, the city where Donald Trump retired to his luxury club in Mar-A-Lago, Mr. DeSantis mocked the “Brandon administration”.
He was only following in the footsteps of other Republican conservatives, who helped pull the insulting slogan out of far-right circles to give it some form of acceptability.
Masks, T-shirts …
Jeff Duncan, elected from South Carolina, caused a stir by wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” mask in the House of Representatives. Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted the phrase to him. Senator Ted Cruz, another Republican heavyweight, posed behind a “Let’s Go Brandon” sign.
Among pro-Trump activists, “Let’s Go Brandon” t-shirts come in all sizes and colors, including an American flag background.
Concluding a flight from Houston to Albuquerque, a Southwest Airlines pilot repeated the irreverent words in an in-cabin message. Denouncing “unacceptable” conduct, the airline immediately launched an internal investigation.
On the side of sports authorities, especially universities, we observe the phenomenon with concern. The slogan is repeated in chorus in many stadiums and other places of competitions in the United States, in particular the Nascar circuits, known to attract an audience from white and working-class backgrounds.
On Friday, NASCAR boss Steve Phelps warned his organization would not tolerate having its logo associated with the insult that flourished.
And, on Saturday night, the cleavage slogan took another leap in notoriety when it made a fanfare entry on the YouTube channel of Saturday Night Live, the great political satire show.
On the side of President Biden’s supporters, the response took an ironic turn, with a hashtag #ThankYouBrandon (“Thank you Brandon”).