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‘Let's go Brandon’: How anti-Biden chant haunts NASCAR driver Brandon Brown

'I don't want it to just be the substitute for a cuss-word,' the 28-year-old said about his name being used for the anti-establishment chant

NASCAR driver Brandon Brown has opened up about his discomfort with being unintentionally associated with the ‘Let's go Brandon’ chant – a substitute for a derogatory phrase used by Biden-haters. The ‘Let's go Brandon’ slogan originated in October when the 28-year-old race car driver won Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway event and gave an interview. As he was speaking with NBC Sports journalist Kelli Stavast, people in the stands began yelling, “F**k Joe Biden.” But Stavast reportedly misheard it and claimed they were saying 'Let's go Brandon!’

In an interview with The New York Times, Brown said that at first he “thought it was kind of funny”. But eventually, it began worrying him. He expressed his fear of losing sponsorships and a damaged career as he noted: “Our whole navigation is, you want to appeal to everybody, because, all in all, everybody is a consumer. I have zero desire to be involved in politics.”

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The driver continued, “This whole Talladega race win was supposed to be a celebration, and then it was supposed to be something that I was able to use to move up, and I really wanted to capitalize on that. But with this meme going viral, it was more of, I had to stay more silent, because everybody wanted it to go on to the political side. I’m about the racing side. I don’t want it to just be the substitute for a cuss-word. I mean, if it’s making it more polite, then, by God, I guess, go ahead.”

Brown also said that he does not know much about politics to express his views or dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden’s administration. But he did mention his annoyance at soaring inflation that has increased the fuel’s cost. He explained, “Inflation as a whole is kind of a big one for us just because I mean, inflation affects everybody. It doesn’t matter where you vote, you know, it’s which way you look or what your beliefs are. Groceries go up. Fuel goes up. And so it’s things that I share frustrations with everybody. So if they’re going to use my name and I guess we have the shared frustrations, right?” 

The stock car racing driver told the NYT that he wants a chant that is “productive”, something like “Let's Go, America!” He has also written an article about the viral chant, which will soon appear in Newsweek.

Meanwhile, people on Twitter have reacted to Brown’s interview with the NYT. One user said, “I mostly blame the fans for this. No one should be chanting that. I’m glad Kelli stavast tried her best to tune out the crowd. But honestly I wish the republicans would not have gotten carried away with it. Hopefully he will get a big corporate sponsor behind him.” 

When another one wrote, “Now he distances himself but ATE IT UP at first.” The third one responded: “‘At first’. Then it started being used by politicians in hearings, being chanted at events. Hell, I heard it chanted at a game today, even. I feel for him. He tried to ride out the storm but it’s become too much. Who honestly thought this would become as big as it did?”

“he's letting himself be used and its not going to work out the way he thinks. it will backfire with fans because its obvious he's being told to do this, and the liberals telling him to do this will leave him for dead in about a week,” another tweet remarked.