Politics

DeSantis Doubles Down On ‘Brandon Administration’ Comment When Pressed By Reporter

[Screenshot/Twitter/Jay O'Brien]

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
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Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended his recent dubbing of President Joe Biden’s administration as the “Brandon administration” during a Monday interview.

WPEC CBS12 News reporter Jay O’Brien pressed the Florida governor on calling the administration “the Brandon administration” in reference to the popular anti-Biden phrase “Let’s Go, Brandon” at an election integrity press conference on Nov. 3 in Tampa Bay.

“Do you feel that that is the proper level of exchange between a governor and a president?” O’Brien asked.

“Well, let me ask you how he’s treated us. Well, look, I think it’s a joke but honestly, one of the reasons why that has taken on is because a lot of your folks in the national media, they get very sensitive to it,” DeSantis responded. “Because what happened was people were chanting something else very colorful. You had a reporter though, say it was ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ when that’s not really what was said.”

“I think the reason why it’s caught on is because I think it needles the national media a little bit because look, they’ve become very partisan.” (RELATED: ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ Chant Erupts After Ron DeSantis Calls Biden Admin ‘Brandon Administration’)

O’Brien continued to press the governor by arguing that the “Brandon administration” term is a “swear about the president.”

The governor further defended his rhetoric, arguing that the media largely supports the president and that very little backlash arose in response to the media’s harsh criticisms made about former President Donald Trump.

“Was there hand wringing about the stuff said about Trump for four years? No, there wasn’t,” DeSantis said.

The “Let’s Go, Brandon” chant was popularized after NBC reporter Kelli Stavast attempted to cover up a NASCAR race’s audience “Fuck Joe Biden” by reporting that they chanted “Let’s Go, Brandon” in support of NASCAR driver Brandon Brown.

DeSantis previously criticized the national media’s “dishonesty” at the Nov. 3 press conference in response to Stavast’s reporting. He argued that the chant “has taken on a life of its own” to expose corporate reporters for hiding the truth.

Former Clinton-era press secretary and CNN analyst Joe Lockhart recently compared the chant to ISIS, Ku Klux Klan and Nazi rhetoric via Twitter.