A CNN panelist claimed that a father of four, who tagged a phone call with President Joe Biden with the phrase “Let’s Go, Brandon,” was not only being impolite but also harboring feelings “about insurrection.”
Ron Brownstein, a senior editor at The Atlantic, joined a CNN panel to discuss a phone call between Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and an Oregon father Jared Schmeck who ended his live-streamed phone call with a less vulgar substitute for “f*** Joe Biden.”
The CNN host dubbed the interaction between Schmeck and the Bidens “disrespectful,” “juvenile” and “reprehensible.” He also asked Brownstein for his opinion on the matter.
“I don’t think it’s fundamentally about incivility. I think it’s fundamentally about insurrection,” Brownstein said.
“The whole ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ motif is the reflection of the view [that] two-thirds of the Republican base — driven by Trump’s false claims and the Big Lie that Biden is an illegitimate President,” he continued. “And, it reflects the findings in multiple polls by the American Enterprise Institute, Vanderbilt University, and others, that a majority of Republican voters now say the American way of life is disappearing so fast that … we may have to use force to save it.”
CNN is PISSED that a parent would say “Let’s Go Brandon” to Biden directly. Analyst says it’s ungracious. It’s juvenile. It’s reprehensible…and (this is CNN)…it’s about “insurrection.” pic.twitter.com/vRRIZagEvb
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) December 26, 2021
Several others took to twitter to express their disapproval of the saying.
Encouraged by senior elected Republicans who pretend to otherwise care about ‘civility’ and who are never asked by the press to justify their indulgence of this childish and offensive slogan. https://t.co/jNkQDc9r3d
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) December 24, 2021
So many people are broken. I know we’re all supposed to say this isn’t a big deal but that’s dumb. It is a big deal that a third of the country is angry and crazy. https://t.co/b1i4D7IWVB
— Susan J. Demas 🏔 (@sjdemas) December 24, 2021
Schmeck told The Oregonian that he is now being “attacked” for his “joke” on the phone call. Schmeck claims he is not a “Trumper,” though he is frustrated with Biden’s political preferences and policy choices such as federal vaccine mandates, inflation, and supply chain problems.
“At the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job,” Schmeck said. “I mean no disrespect to him.” (RELATED: ‘God-Given Right To Express My Frustration’: Biden’s Christmas ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ Caller Comments on His ‘Innocent Jest’)
The father of four parted ways with the Bidens by wishing them a “wonderful Christmas.” He claims that his family calls the NORAD Santa Tracker — where Biden was taking calls from and updating children on Santa’s whereabouts — every year and was unaware that the call would be live-streamed.