Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
(Picture: REUTERS)Ron DeSantis embraced an anti-Biden viral meme during his news conference in West Palm Beach, a day after Democrats were routed at the polls.
The Sunshine state governor held an event to announce policy goals and his desire to focus on election integrity. DeSantis then took a page from former President Donald Trump’s playbook and used the moment to spur anti-Biden rhetoric by referencing the “Let’s Go, Brandon” chant popularized by Republicans.
In reference to what he views as a media bias to Biden, DeSantis said during his speech, “Although they weren’t very happy with Virginia last night, if you were watching some of that, that was some major coping going on… if you look at that, if you look at what’s going on with some of the big corporations with their woke agenda, when you look at the Biden — the Brandon administration — in terms of what they’re…”
The Florida governor then trailed off as he laughed and allowed the conservative audience to erupt in chants.
Ron DeSantis just called the Biden Administration the "Brandon Administration" pic.twitter.com/L4sov8rtLQ
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) November 3, 2021
If you’re not familiar with the Republican chant, it’s essentially a more coy way of saying “f**k Joe Biden.” The meme was born when a reporter at a NASCAR event said during an interview with driver Brandon Brown that the “F*** Joe Biden” chant heard in the background was actually the crowd saying “Let’s Go, Brandon.”
Since then, the euphemism embraced by trolling conservatives has been used as a swipe at Biden and even become prominent in the form of songs, posters, and more. Republican political officials have also decided to slam Biden using the phrase, only making the derogatory chant rise in popularity.
“Did you know how that started?” DeSantis said during the speech. “And you have the media, they’re hand wringing over this. But you know, there was a NASCAR race, and they’re doing an interview with a driver, I guess his name was Brandon. And the crowd starts chanting very colorful language about Joe Biden. And it was obvious that they were doing and, you know, it is what it is.”
Despite the insulting hit at President Biden, the Florida governor went on to claim Democrats have said worst about Trump. “First off all, they said way worse about Trump for four years,” DeSantis said.
He continued, “You have a reporter from NBC. She’s trying to cover for Biden, so she says they’re chanting ‘Let’s go Brandon.’ It was a lie.”
DeSantis then summed up why Republicans love the meme, “This chant has taken on a life of its own because it exposes the dishonesty of these corporate reporters.”
