# Let's go Brandon **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 18, 2021, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266 "2021-12-18T06:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/41 "2021-12-26T19:17:53Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > But was got a payout for freedom of speech. Eloquently put. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/42 "2021-12-26T19:29:03Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I don’t think “gaslighting” means what you think it does. Especially considering most everyone knows how the phrase came to be and even if you don’t, people (Rs and Ds alike) are happy to tell you they’re saying Lets Go Brandon instead of Fuck Joe Biden. Not only is it not, in any sense of the word, gaslighting, it’s not even a good dog whistle. At best, it’s a euphemism It’s like flipping someone off with your ring finger. No one is confused about the meaning and the vast majority of people aren’t going to feel any different than if you used your middle finger. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/43 "2021-12-26T21:45:26Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > But the neutered phrase also pokes at the gas-lighting media. It’s not that complicated. If it’s not complicated, perhaps you could explain it for us? How does “fuck joe biden” poke fun at the media? I mean, beyond the obvious “haha we made the media say our secret naughty phrase” ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/44 "2021-12-26T22:22:08Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > How does “fuck joe biden” poke fun at the media? I’d like to hear the explanation of this, as well, 'cause I don’t get it. I’ve seen people argue that it somehow points out the _hypocrisy_ of the media… I guess 'cause the reporter lied and didn’t say what the audience was REALLY saying (whilst ignoring the fact that said reporter would’ve had to pay a fine or would’ve lost his job if he’d said “fuck” on a live broadcast). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/45 "2021-12-26T22:36:27Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > If it’s not complicated, perhaps you could explain it for us? How does “fuck joe biden” poke fun at the media? Because it started when people chanted ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ at a NASCAR event, and a reporter interviewing driver Brandon Brown said that they were chanting ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ when it was clear that they were not. That’s where the ‘gaslighting’ idea comes from, and why ‘Let’s go Brandon’ is both a shot at Joe Biden and the media for covering for him. I think it’s rather weak tea - she might have just come up with ‘let’s go Brandon’ because the vulgarity is not allowed on TV and she didn’t know what else to say about it. I thought it showed some rather quick thinking on her part to come up with it. On the other hand, people on the right would say that if the chant were ‘Fuck Trump’, she likely have not tried to find cover for it. I think it’s relatively harmless, and inevitable that stuff like this would happen when a President has a 41% approval rating. It happened to Trump too. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/46 "2021-12-26T23:16:13Z")
Every report I’ve read said the reporter misheard the chant. Do you have a cite that it was deliberate? (Non-Fox) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/47 "2021-12-26T23:22:22Z")
Ah, I didn’t realize the media sent only their most politically devious reporters to cover NASCAR events. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/48 "2021-12-26T23:48:29Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Every report I’ve read said the reporter misheard the chant. Do you have a cite that it was deliberate? (Non-Fox) Is that what rhe reporter said? I don’t know how you can ‘cite’ what someone thought. I heard the clip, and ‘fuck Joe Biden’ was pretty clear. But maybe she was in a noisier environment. I was just providing the requested reason why ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ was also a shot against the media. I have no dog in this hunt. Maybe she heard it correctly, maybe she didn’t. But that doesn’t change the reason why Republicans are using it as a jount attackmin Biden and the media. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/49 "2021-12-27T00:04:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But that doesn’t change the reason why Republicans are using it as a jount attackmin Biden and the media. Right, and the reason is that they are stupid and childish. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/50 "2021-12-27T00:09:10Z")
Well yeah, but no more so than ‘Drumpf’ or any other stupid political slogan. Partisan politics make people stupid. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/51 "2021-12-27T00:10:55Z")
Oh hey everyone remember when all democrats mindlessly parroted Drumpf and made a whole fucking cottage industry out of it and snuck into a broadcast meant for children to bring it up and ran it into the fucking ground? No? Weird. I thought all sides were always the same no matter what in every context in every way and therefore no one’s preferred side can ever be bad or worse as some sort of law of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/52 "2021-12-27T00:27:27Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > > If it’s not complicated, perhaps you could explain it for us? How does “fuck joe biden” poke fun at the media? > > I think it’s relatively harmless, and inevitable that stuff like this would happen when a President has a 41% approval rating. It happened to Trump too. If that were true, then it would have happened to every other president, as such an approval rating is rather common. The original chant was already unusual, as you don’t normally have people in conpletely unrelated events showing up and chanting about how much they hate the president. But to then create a euphemistic version is utterly bizarre. I pointed out when it happened that the claims seemed dubious. It sounds like a 4chan prank, not the way adults act. Am I offended? No. But it is a new bar in the vacuousness of political discourse. The original chant had nothing, and this new one even less. It exists solely as a virtue signal–the real kind where you say something to indicate your allegiance to a certain group. We might also call it a shibboleth. Even an actual insult about Biden and something he had done would make more sense. At least try to get something in people’s heads. That’s the reason for the call to NORAD. It was 4chan style pranking. They thought it would be funny to try and piss people off. That’s the harm. It’s not that it would hurt Biden or anything. It’s the normalization of this sort of childishness. It’s about appealing to a you get crowd who doesn’t care about the politics but enjoys trying to troll. It’s not great when politics isn’t a out actual issues. Sure, this particular instance is probably harmless. But it isn’t normal. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/53 "2021-12-27T00:31:24Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Because it started when people chanted ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ at a NASCAR event, and a reporter interviewing driver Brandon Brown said that they were chanting ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ when it was clear that they were not. That’s where the ‘gaslighting’ idea comes from, and why ‘Let’s go Brandon’ is both a shot at Joe Biden and the media for covering for him. Oh I see. A reporter didn’t say “fuck joe biden”, and conservatives are throwing a tantrum. Yeah, that seems about right. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/54 "2021-12-27T00:36:45Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Oh I see. A reporter didn’t say “fuck joe biden”, and conservatives are throwing a tantrum. Yeah, that seems about right. I genuinely don’t recall _ever_ hearing it said in a ‘tantrum’ fashion. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/55 "2021-12-27T00:46:09Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I genuinely don’t recall _ever_ hearing it said in a ‘tantrum’ fashion. “we are mocking the gaslighting media” sure sounds like a tantrum to me. I mean, has anybody ever been to a NASCAR track? It’s _incredibly loud_, you can barely hear the person next to you, much less decode some idiot sports chant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/56 "2021-12-27T00:48:55Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > “we are mocking the gaslighting media" sure sounds like a tantrum to me. > > I mean, has anybody ever been to a NASCAR track? It’s _incredibly loud_, you can barely hear the person next to you, much less decode some idiot sports chant But that’s just it: you get that people at sporting events sometimes _chant stuff without throwing a tantrum_, right? Just like it’s entirely possible to mock something _without_, y’know, throwing a tantrum? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/57 "2021-12-27T00:56:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But that’s just it: you get that people at sporting events sometimes _chant stuff without throwing a tantrum_ , right? > > Just like it’s entirely possible to mock something _without_ , y’know, throwing a tantrum? Figure of speech dude. No need to get exercised about it, you’re kinda proving my point here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/58 "2021-12-27T01:33:16Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Figure of speech dude. No need to get exercised about it, you’re kinda proving my point here If you think that I’m getting, uh, exercised, then I’d say you’re kinda proving _my_ point here. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/59 "2021-12-27T03:09:21Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Because it started when people chanted ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ at a NASCAR event, and a reporter interviewing driver Brandon Brown said that they were chanting ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ when it was clear that they were not. That’s where the ‘gaslighting’ idea comes from, and why ‘Let’s go Brandon’ is both a shot at Joe Biden and the media for covering for him. I was saying “Boo-urns.” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266/60 "2021-12-27T06:54:19Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But maybe she was in a noisier environment. Yeah, MAYBE she was in a stadium full of chanting people and NASCAR vehicles? Naaaah, that doesn’t sound right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-brandon/956266.md?page=4)