Let's Go DARK BRANDON


Understanding President Biden's ironic alter ego 'Dark Brandon'

In late 2021, a sports commentator erroneously assumed a crowd at a NASCAR event had been cheering "Let's Go, Brandon" — a nod to driver Brandon Brown — when the attendees had actually been cheering "F--k Joe Biden." But the innocent mix-up was soon repackaged as an irony-laden rallying call for the right, a dog whistle for the conservative community, and a funny-but-serious way to stick it to Biden without actually sticking it to Biden. It even went so far as to spawn "an entire ecosystem of coy bumper stickers and T-shirts," as well as, of course, a deluge of Republican internet content, writes The New York Times.

Now, after multiple failed attempts at reclaiming the conversation for themselves, Democrats seem to have landed on their own successful (if you'd like to call it that) "tongue-in-cheek appropriation" of the meme. Enter "Dark Brandon," a version of Biden with glowing red eyes and a conspicuous, devil-may-care attitude; a political alter ego that means business but still uses "stock Biden phrases" like "no malarkey" and "kiddo." As Slate puts it, the reconfigured meme transforms the president "from the creaky, besieged, chronically ineffective Delawarean we all know and love to a mastermind of the infernal arts."

Why has "Dark Brandon" gained popularity?

After a beleaguered start, the Biden administration is finally celebrating a number of policy wins — such as the bipartisan gun law, and the Inflation Reduction Act  — and it appears White House aides and officials are working to reclaim "Dark Brandon" and "Let's Go, Brandon" as part of the fun.

Is "Dark Brandon" a good thing? Is it a bad thing?


Whatcha all think? Too corny? Slaps the Repubs right where the sun doesn't shine? Will eventually backfire? Makes Joe a superhero?

Give us your take, that is an order! Joe will be watching.






 

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