The 35-year-old father who said "Let's go, Brandon" during a Christmas Eve call with President Biden now says it was an "innocent jest," The Guardian reports.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden were answering calls to the North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) Santa Tracker hotline when Jared Schmeck called in. Schmeck and the Bidens discussed how Schmeck planned to spend the holiday with his wife and four children, but as they prepared to end the call, Schmeck said "Merry Christmas, and let's go, Brandon."
Jill Biden winced, but the president repeated calmly, "Let's go, Brandon. I agree." The entire incident was being streamed live.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Let's go, Brandon" became a euphemism for "F--k Joe Biden" after a sportscaster mistook the latter for the former at an October NASCAR race. In a report on the Christmas Eve incident, NBC News referred to the phrase as a "right-wing slur."
"At the end of the day I have nothing against Mr. Biden," Schmeck told The Oregonian. "But I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job. I mean no disrespect to him." Schmeck also said he is not a "Trumper," describing himself instead as a "free-thinking American and follower of Jesus Christ," and said he is now "being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech."
"It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner," Schmeck said. "I understand there is a vulgar meaning to 'Lets go Brandon,' but I'm not that simple minded," he said at another point, adding later that he "stood 100 percent behind what I did and what I said."
Some commentators have argued that Biden's unruffled response is indicative of his level-headedness and self-confidence.
Others have claimed Biden simply repeated Schmeck's words back to him because he lacked the mental acuity to understand them.
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
