A year ago today, Joe and Jill Biden did a video call into NORAD to see where Santa is and to speak with kids before Christmas. One particular call remains the most memorable exchange from this historical event.
“I hope you have a wonderful Christmas,” Biden told the father of the children at the end of the call.
“I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas as well,” he replied. “Merry Christmas and Let’s go, Brandon.”
“Let’s go, Brandon. I agree,” Biden said in response.
The video still makes me laugh.
It still seems unlikely that Joe Biden’s handlers have kept him so safe that he didn’t know what “Let’s go, Brandon” meant. It was widely believed that Biden skipped the Army-Navy football game last year to avoid chants of “Let’s go, Brandon,” which, as I’m sure you all remember, became a national story after an NBC reporter claimed she “misheard” chants of “F—k Joe Biden!” at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega.
The phrase started out as a popular joke on social media, but it eventually became a song that was at the top of the iTunes charts. It even has a dance. It’s also on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and face masks.
After the call went viral, the father shared a video of his side of the call with the Bidens, which he posted to his YouTube account. He can be seen laughing at the end of the recording after saying, “Let’s go, Bradon,” but it doesn’t seem he heard Biden say, “Let’s go, Brandon. I agree.”
According to the video description, the dad, Jared Schmeck, says he had no idea that the call was being live-streamed. “We called NORAD and they patched us to the President!” reads the video’s description. “Let’s go, Brandon! I had no idea this was being livestreamed at the time!”
Either way, Jared, you’re still a hero, and Merry Christmas!
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