Their voices are shut out by the media.
Their freedoms are being stripped away every day.
Their ideas are placed on hold and canceled the next moment.
Many aspects in the conservatives world were being closed off until a new image was created to represent their unheard voices, their stripped freedoms and canceled ideas.
On October 2, 2021, a NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, the crowd began chanting after Brandon Brown won his race. The audio was clear that the crowd was saying “F-Joe Biden;” however, sportscaster Kelli Stavast, mistook those words and began saying “Look, they’re saying ‘Let’s go Brandon’,” (npr.org). This misinterpretation began the Joe Biden meme spread throughout the United States, and an image people wear on t-shirts, facemasks, flags, hats, stickers and chants through the streets.
“Let’s go, Brandon” has since been used not just by the community, but also by Florida Rep. Bill Posey, South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Bill Posey used this image to end a speech on the House floor on October 22, 2021, Jeff Duncan proudly wore a “Let’s go, Brandon” facemask in bright white letters during a voting session on October 25, 2021, and Greg Abbott has hopped onto the “Let’s go, Brandon” phrase due to Americans being fed up with Biden’s dangerous, liberal policies (CNN.com). Knowing that the people in that crowd, the community and these men are not cheering for Brandon Brown when they sport “Let’s go, Brandon” gear, instead it has become a way for the people to oppose President Joe Biden.
As some people would state that “Let’s go, Brandon ” is a hilarious statement or meme being used throughout the United States, others would argue that this is an inappropriate slang term that shouldn’t be used against the President. NPR has stated this term as “vulgar” and inappropriate towards the President, as well as CNN’s Edward-Issac Dovere stating that he was so offended by this phrase he called it an “inside joke telling the president to perform a sexual act upon himself.” An article about “Let’s go, Brandon ” claims that “The current eruption of anti-Biden signs and chants, however, is on another level, far more vulgar and widespread” than anything that’s been seen in past administrations (foxnews.com). However, this slogan used to oppose President Joe Biden isn’t the only time a US President was under attack. For example, President Donald J. Trump was removed from social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, because of his posts about election fraud. President Ronald Reagan went through an assassination attempt that he survived and President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth because President Lincoln wanted to get rid of slavery. All of these men, along with many more, were put under “vulgar” statements and some were even killed in that process.
The creation of “Let’s go, Brandon” has led members of the community to believe that this was another attempt of the media to twist the truth, and as some say do “damage control.” This further led the conservative social media associates to hook onto this moment and use “Let’s go, Brandon” as their code for its true meaning “F- Joe Biden.” Some people say that this statement is the first step in the conservatives gaining their voice back against the liberal media that twists a pessimistic view on the conservative members of society. The “vulgar” statements against President Joe Biden aren’t any worse than all of the presidents before him receiving backlash after their election into office. This image will allow the people to call these liberals out on their actions and the man they support to “Make America Great Again.”
