Status: December 25, 2021 3:35 p.m.
In a traditional Christmas program, US President Biden has been vilified: A caller said goodbye with a battle cry from the Trump supporters. The President’s reaction was astonishing.
US President Joe Biden was loudly denigrated by a caller at a traditional Christmas event on Christmas Eve. Apparently Biden didn’t even notice it and agreed.
Together with his wife Jill, Biden took calls from children and their parents on the so-called Santa Claus radar in the White House, asking them about Santa’s current position. A father said goodbye with the sentence “Let’s go Brandon” (“Let’s go Brandon”). The slogan is the code for insulting Biden among supporters of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump.
Biden reacted unmoved and said: “Let’s go Brandon, I agree”. It was unclear whether the President had understood the innuendo – his wife Jill Biden, sitting next to them, giggled uncomfortably and rolled her eyes.
Slogan from Trump fans
The slogan stands for the vulgar abuse “Fuck Joe Biden”. It has its origins in a television incident in early October when a journalist for NBC interviewed a car race winner, Brandon Brown. While the fans were clearly singing “Fuck Joe Biden” in the background, the reporter said they were singing “Let’s Go Brandon”. The phrase spread like wildfire in right-wing circles.
The campaign around the so-called Santa-Tracker has been around for decades. Volunteers operate the service of the North American Air and Space Defense Command (NORAD), with which Santa Claus’s flight around the world is followed on radar screens. Traditionally, the respective presidential family helps answer the many – mostly polite and loving – calls.
Caller “Jared” identified himself to Biden as the father of four children. Biden spoke briefly to the children, asked them what presents they wanted for Christmas and told them to be in bed before midnight. He also mentioned that he and “Jared” both had sons named Hunter. At the end of the call, Biden wished “Jared” a “wonderful Christmas”. He replied: “Merry Christmas and Let’s Go Brandon!”