For better or worse, the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency ushered in the full meme-ification of the Commander-in-Chief. The political culture war on social media these days is often fought with memes, whether that be through photoshopped propaganda or hashtaggable catchphrases.
It’s safe to say the most enduring meme of the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency has been a coded derogatory phrase with profane roots, lobbed repeatedly from the right side of the political aisle: “Let’s go, Brandon!”
For the uninitiated, the phrase began due to a profanity-laced chant at a NASCAR race getting misheard by an NBC sports reporter. After driver Brandon Brown took the checkered flag, the reporter in question relayed that the crowd was chanting “Let’s go, Brandon!” In actuality, the chant, which was quite clearly decipherable over the television broadcast feed, was “F**k Joe Biden!”
Subsequently, “Let’s go, Brandon” and the variation hashtags #LGB and #FJB became quick shorthand for the President’s detractors when arguing over his policies online. But lately, it’s Biden’s allies among the Democratic party who have begun to harness the power of Brandon.
Enter the Dark Brandon meme.
Dark Brandon emerged in the spring and initially had a similar derogatory connotation to its source. But in the past few weeks, the left-wing have sought to harness its power, using the imagery to highlight recent high-points of Biden’s time in the Oval Office.
Dark Brandon strikes again https://t.co/zmhhO6V81M pic.twitter.com/FiQdB6NB7q
— Dan (@DaytimeDan) August 1, 2022
Whether or not any of this will make a difference in the November mid-terms, of course, remains to be seen.
