Let’s Go, America: A Call to Halt Corrosive Rhetoric
Republicans have doubled down on their newest act in defiance against President Biden. The GOP has turned “Let’s go, Brandon!” into a fundraising frenzy selling t-shirts, hats, and bumper stickers, and some elected officials are even using the phrase to close out speeches on the House floor. What may seem like a harmless rallying cry is, in fact, a sad allegory of how virally toxic our political discourse has become in the MAGA era.
On October 2, NASCAR driver Brandon Brown won the Sparks 300, a NASCAR XFinity series race in Lincoln, Alabama. After winning, an NBC Sports reporter, Kelli Stavast, interviewed Brown, and a chant broke out. The reporter told him the crowd was chanting, “Let’s go, Brandon!” However, the fans were not cheering on Brown’s win. Instead, they were chanting “F*** Joe Biden!” Soon after, Telegram channels run by various Proud Boys chapters erupted with memes and new logos embracing “Let’s go, Brandon” as a rallying cry with a not-so-subtle political message.
For a few weeks, the newly minted slogan was mostly tongue-in-cheek fodder in far-right social media circles and among political extremists, that is, until it found its way into the mainstream thanks to pro-Trump media figures and GOP politicians.
While “Let’s go, Brandon” hardly seems like a dangerous phrase, it’s a reflection of a darker overtone that has continued to endanger our political system. When members of Congress, such as Lauren Boebert, Bill Posey, and Jeff Duncan, invoke the phrase—including on their face masks or during floor speeches in the U.S. House of Representatives–they aren’t just normalizing denigrating political discourse, they are sending a message of acceptance to more extreme elements in our country.
Indeed, the mainstreaming of inflammatory rhetoric by today’s GOP has become an actual public safety issue. Across the country we are now witnessing almost weekly episodes of political intimidation and violence, whether it is poll workers threatened for protecting the integrity of our elections or local officials harassed at their homes by anti-vaxxer mobs
Just weeks ago, the FBI was forced to begin systematically tracking threats to public school board members nationwide because political attacks have spun so far out of control. These episodes share a common theme: what began as “harmless” rhetoric soon looked more like a loaded gun in the wrong hands.
Political violence is spiking in our country. In fact, as the University of Chicago found in a recent study, tens of millions of Republicans support reinstalling Trump in the White House through the use of force, as a result of false narratives about the legitimacy of the last election.
“Let’s go, Brandon” is not just a protest phrase. For some far-right extremists, it’s an implicit permission slip to promote a more hostile–even violent–attitude toward the sitting U.S. President and his supporters. Dog-whistles in today’s politics are not mere inside jokes; they can become ticking time bombs that incite real harm.
Look no further than the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, a violent event precipitated by reckless rhetoric from the nation’s Commander-in-Chief. Many fellow Republicans either privately dismissed Trump’s claims of a stolen election hoping it would blow over or, worse, publicly promoted them–only to see those words used as the justification by extremists for storming the seat of American government.
Words matter. Yet they apparently have not learned the lesson because we’ve continued to hear incendiary messaging propagated from Republican corners, culminating in this most recent foul rallying cry against President Biden.
The politicians adopting this mantra are not the fringes of the GOP. They are ranking committee members and hold leadership positions within the party, and the longer they continue, the further it will drive a wedge into our already fractured society.
It has to stop.
We can no longer allow political radicals to dominate the national discourse, roam the halls of Congress, or spread conspiracy theories that corrode the fabric of our republic.
In the upcoming midterm elections, Americans have the chance to evict far-right extremists such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, and Madison Cawthorn from the people’s House.
The stakes couldn’t be higher.
While November 8, 2022, is less than a year away, voters must start divorcing themselves from divisive politicians now. This is especially true for Republican citizens who need to put country over party by supporting the rational candidates running to unseat radical ones within their own party.
It’s been six years since the GOP took a hard turn into the pugilistic world of Trumpism, and next year, Americans have the chance to swerve out of it for good.
Let’s go, America!
Originally written for and published on RealClear Politics