There’s no rhyme or reason to it. But NASCAR driver Brandon Brown has been canceled and is in jeopardy of not finding sponsors for the upcoming NASCAR circuit.
Mr. Brown didn’t say anything racist, or sexist, or even transphobic. He did say he was a Republican, which gets people canceled all the time, but not in this instance.
No one can say why Brandon Brown is being canceled except that his given name has become part of a political meme that insults and degrades Joe Biden.
“Let’s Go, Brandon,” for those living in caves or other places Democratic Party trolls might inhabit, began in October after Kelli Stavast on NBC interviewed Brown after he won a race at Talladega. Even though the crowd could plainly be heard in the background chanting “F*** Joe Biden” NBC’s Stavast insisted the crowd was yelling “Let’s Go, Brandon.”
Whether Stavast really couldn’t hear what the crowd was screaming as she claims or she was so flustered by the use of the expletive that she had a brain cramp is irrelevant. The phrase went viral on the right.
It should be noted that “Let’s Go, Brandon” as a substitute for “F*** Joe Biden is far more polite than the left’s chants when Donald Trump was in office. They had no qualms about using the vulgar expletive in describing Trump at that time.
The left is taking out their anger at the right for developing a hugely successful meme that is permeating popular culture. Unfortunately, it’s also costing a young stock car driver in his pocketbook.
“It got extremely difficult for us,” Brown told Sports Business Journal. “If you’re a national corporation, that means you sell to all consumers … and unfortunately, when you get dragged into the political arena, people want you to take a side. I’ve never been put in a position where it’s, ‘OK, what side are you on? Left or right?’ So it’s hard for a brand to want to attach to somebody who might be kind of divisive in their consumer base.
“If I’m going to divide Coca-Cola, why would they want to talk to me? So the short answer is it’s been tough to connect with partnerships just because it’s kind of viewed as a ticking time bomb: ‘What is he [g]oing to choose or say and how would that effect our consumer base?’ It’s too much of a risk. I understand it on their side but it’s made it really hard to tie everything down.”
Brown says he’s a Republican but, for obvious reasons, wants to steer clear of politics. NASCAR feels the same way. And Brown has acceded to NASCAR demands as far as playing down the connection to the meme.
Brown also said that he and his representatives have attempted to get something taken down a couple of times in the past that was affiliated with the chant.
NASCAR has also rallied around protecting Brown and the company’s name in order to prevent any affiliation between them and the chant.
‘NASCAR and I are kind of in the same boat about what to do here, but I don’t think anyone has the right answer,’ Brown added.
‘The unfortunate part is it’s my name and my career that are at stake and the risk is high. If I do something wrong in this arena, my name as a driver falls off very fast.
‘Even a career in NASCAR if I didn’t make it as a driver, trying to get another job in the community, I’m always going to be the “Let’s Go Brandon” guy. I’m always going to be known for that and how I handled this situation.’
Arguments that the chant “Let’s Go, Brandon” disparages the office of the president and not just the occupant of the White House are ludicrous. Every Republican president since Eisenhower has been mocked, vilified, and portrayed as either an ignorant racist bomb-thrower or a scheming would-be dictator out to destroy democracy.
Besides, Joe Biden agrees with “Let’s Go, Brandon,” doesn’t he?
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