Juno News - The “Let’s go Brandon” meme comes to Canada

00:00:00.280 The let's go Brandon meme comes to Canada or is it fake news? We'll break it all down.

00:00:04.540 I'm Candice Malcolm and this is the Candice Malcolm Show.

00:00:11.600 Hi everyone, thank you so much for tuning in to the Candice Malcolm Show today.

00:00:14.820 Thank you for supporting the podcast and listening to it.

00:00:17.800 And thank you to everyone who tuned in last night.

00:00:19.760 We did a live stream, a live event covering the Alberta municipal elections

00:00:23.980 and that really important question on equalization,

00:00:26.520 on the future of Alberta's sort of role in fiscal federalism

00:00:30.560 and role in confederation more broadly.

00:00:33.320 One of the reasons that True North exists

00:00:35.480 and one of the reasons I think we've been so successful over the past few years

00:00:38.620 as a voice, an independent media voice,

00:00:41.340 is that we tell the other side of the story,

00:00:43.020 we cover issues that the legacy media ignores.

00:00:45.920 And I think that this is a great example of it.

00:00:47.940 We hosted our live stream, we interviewed some great guests from across Alberta

00:00:52.120 to talk about the different aspects of the night

00:00:54.420 and the various races that were going on.

00:00:57.240 And what we heard over and over again from our guests,

00:01:00.520 from Danielle Smith, Sheila Gunn-Reed, Vitor Marciano, and Dr. Bill Buick,

00:01:06.300 they all sort of reiterated this idea

00:01:08.520 that the media in Alberta was hardly covering this election,

00:01:11.980 that the mayoral race in Edmonton wasn't getting a lot of attention,

00:01:15.140 the one in Calgary was.

00:01:16.340 But the question of the referendum, there was hardly any campaigning,

00:01:19.780 there was basically no coverage outside of Alberta.

00:01:22.980 For those of us living outside of Alberta, we barely heard anything about it.

00:01:27.240 And, you know, given how important it is,

00:01:29.720 the consequential nature of a vote like this

00:01:32.200 and really in Alberta's role in the future of Canada,

00:01:35.200 it's a little surprising that the legacy media just barely covered it,

00:01:38.660 didn't pay much attention to it, hardly even a headline.

00:01:41.740 And again, I think that's why we have found our nation,

00:01:44.000 found some success in this challenging media space in Canada.

00:01:47.660 And so I really encourage you to go take a look.

00:01:50.120 We had a lot of fun and it was always a great time.

00:01:52.960 Joined by my colleagues, Andrew Lawton,

00:01:55.440 and my colleague, William McBeth, who's usually a behind-the-scenes guy,

00:01:58.900 but he's based out in Calgary.

00:02:00.940 And he joined us for the sort of role of decision desk

00:02:04.640 and breaking down the answer.

00:02:05.960 So that was a lot of fun.

00:02:07.700 And I will admit, one of the things that I kept hearing about

00:02:10.020 in the chat, in the comment section, both on Facebook and YouTube,

00:02:14.140 people wanted to talk about the Let's Go Brandon meme.

00:02:16.280 I kept seeing that, Let's Go Brandon, pop up in the chat.

00:02:19.560 And I thought it would be amusing and fun to spend a show talking about this meme,

00:02:24.540 what it means, where it came from,

00:02:26.280 sort of what it means in terms of the cultural moment that we're living in.

00:02:29.740 And yes, there's a little bit of a Canadian aspect

00:02:32.180 that we will get to later in this show.

00:02:34.140 So, you know, I'm a creature of the internet.

00:02:36.620 I'm a millennial.

00:02:37.320 I like to know what's going on online.

00:02:39.360 So whenever there's one of these memes that are sort of going viral,

00:02:42.240 I like to quickly understand what it's all about.

00:02:44.660 And I'm surprised that many people don't know what it means or what we're talking about.

00:02:48.820 I was talking to a friend yesterday and I mentioned Let's Go Brandon

00:02:51.880 and they didn't know what I was talking about.

00:02:53.340 They had seen it here or there on social media,

00:02:55.200 but they didn't know what it meant.

00:02:56.480 And I was a little surprised that someone didn't know what it meant.

00:03:00.060 So I thought, hey, let's break it down on the show.

00:03:03.040 Let's go through it.

00:03:03.760 So where did this come from?

00:03:05.040 What is Let's Go Brandon?

00:03:06.380 What is this meme all about?

00:03:07.880 So it started back on October 9th,

00:03:10.000 which was Thanksgiving long weekend up here in Canada.

00:03:12.940 And down in the States, they also had a long weekend.

00:03:15.440 It used to be called Columbus Day.

00:03:16.400 Now it's called something else.

00:03:17.740 But after the Xfinity NASCAR race at the Talladega Super Speedway,

00:03:22.320 Brandon Brown, the NASCAR driver, had just won his first race of the season.

00:03:25.940 And he was being interviewed live on national television on NBC Sports

00:03:29.780 by a reporter in front of a large crowd of fans who were all chanting something.

00:03:35.400 I'll just say they were chanting something.

00:03:37.300 And so the interview sort of went viral.

00:03:39.200 It's really amusing.

00:03:39.800 I'm going to play it for you because it is glorious.

00:03:42.820 It's hilarious.

00:03:43.640 But the crowd is very clearly chanting something about Joe Biden.

00:03:47.580 And for whatever reason, the NBC Sports host plays this clip of the crowd saying,

00:03:52.920 you know, Brandon, you just won this race.

00:03:54.620 And now you can hear this crowd cheering for you.

00:03:57.400 And it's pretty clear that they're not cheering for him.

00:04:00.460 But she says they're saying, let's go, Brandon.

00:04:03.520 And when I'll leave it up to you to determine what you think it is that they're chanting.

00:04:09.040 So let's play this clip.

00:04:10.740 Thank you to all of our partners.

00:04:13.040 Oh, my God.

00:04:13.960 It's just such an unbelievable moment.

00:04:17.300 Brandon, you also told me, as you can hear the chants from the crowd.

00:04:22.120 Let's go, Brandon.

00:04:25.360 Brandon, you told me you were going to kind of hang back those first two stages and just

00:04:29.600 watch and learn.

00:04:30.980 What did you learn that helped you there in those closing laps?

00:04:33.680 Oh, my God.

00:04:34.500 It was learning how each line didn't stay to one.

00:04:40.100 And everything shifted top to bottom so much.

00:04:42.680 So the clip went viral and it went even more viral when Donald J. Trump Jr. shared this

00:04:48.640 tweet.

00:04:49.080 He posted it on Twitter with the caption, I'm pretty sure they're not chanting, let's

00:04:53.900 go, Brandon, as the NBC reporter is telling us, what do you hear?

00:04:58.040 And then he has the hashtag FJB, which stands for, I won't say it, but F Joe Biden.

00:05:04.400 And so you can see that clip got 4 million views just there on Twitter.

00:05:09.800 So what is the origin of this chant?

00:05:11.640 Why were they chanting it at the NASCAR stadium, the Talladega Super Speedway?

00:05:16.520 Well, apparently these chants have been heard at college football games throughout the season

00:05:21.140 for the entire school year since September 4th.

00:05:23.780 According to Old Rose Sports, the chants were first heard at four college football games

00:05:28.520 in the American South on the weekend of September 4th.

00:05:32.220 That was in Alabama, Virginia, and South Carolina.

00:05:36.240 And now they're basically a feature at college football games across the country.

00:05:40.420 According to Joe Biden's presidential Wikipedia page, it says this, with approval ratings falling

00:05:46.580 in September 2021, chants of F Joe Biden were heard at several college football games in

00:05:51.580 the South before spreading to other NCAA stadiums.

00:05:54.540 And then even more sporting events throughout the country.

00:05:57.200 Chants were heard at the 2021 Ryder Cup, a boxing match, the Talladega Super Speedway Spark

00:06:01.920 300, September 11th, MLB matchup between the Yankees and the Mets, and NFL games between

00:06:07.900 the Jets and New Jersey.

00:06:09.580 So the fact that it's made its way to Joe Biden's official Wikipedia page is quite something.

00:06:15.380 And now we just hear this chant everywhere.

00:06:18.260 It was at a New York Yankees game, New York Rangers hockey game.

00:06:21.920 The LA Dodgers were playing the San Francisco Giants in a playoff game.

00:06:25.860 And they were chanting it out in California.

00:06:28.820 It was heard at a couple of different concerts.

00:06:31.380 It was heard at a congressional baseball game played in Washington, D.C.

00:06:35.480 Get this, where Joe Biden was actually in attendance.

00:06:38.900 And it even broke out at a food court where a bunch of women were eating lunch or dinner 1.00

00:06:44.560 at a food court.

00:06:45.700 And they broke out in this FJB chant.

00:06:48.840 And now the chant has even gone global.

00:06:52.540 On October 11th, protesters were in Rome, Italy.

00:06:56.040 And they started chanting F Joe Biden outside the U.S. Embassy.

00:06:59.920 The protests were in response to mandatory vaccines in that country.

00:07:04.940 And there was also another chant in Europe, out in Germany, where the Let's Go Brandon

00:07:09.660 chant or F Joe Biden chant could be heard by a group of protesters in Germany.

00:07:14.840 And it gets even more amusing than that.

00:07:16.540 The Let's Go Brandon or the F Joe Biden meme chant has made its way into popular culture,

00:07:22.360 into music.

00:07:23.340 The number one song right now on the Apple iTunes music list in the rap category is a

00:07:29.280 song called Let's Go Brandon by Loza Alexander.

00:07:32.520 It is number one.

00:07:34.180 It beat out Drake and Lil Nas X on iTunes.

00:07:37.780 And it is number two overall in all categories.

00:07:40.660 The song's gone viral on TikTok, on Instagram.

00:07:43.300 And it's got millions of views already on YouTube.

00:07:45.920 So I'm going to play a bit of this song.

00:07:48.640 And I will warn you, it is a little bit graphic.

00:07:51.060 I won't bleep out the F part.

00:07:52.840 But you get the idea that this song, he's saying, we know what they're really saying.

00:07:57.860 When you say, Let's Go Brandon, we know what they're really saying.

00:08:00.180 And then he goes into quite the tirade against Joe Biden, where he calls him a communist and

00:08:05.400 basically says that the whole country has turned against him.

00:08:08.500 So let's play a bit of that.

00:08:09.640 And I say it with a passion

00:08:13.640 As I pull off in the ass time

00:08:16.580 Don't nobody like his ass, huh

00:08:19.220 Tried to cover up and tell the people, Go Brandon

00:08:21.800 But we know what they're saying, though

00:08:24.700 You can hear the chat in every post

00:08:27.500 Don't nobody want this commie, cause we're not in China 1.00

00:08:30.160 Everybody hated Trump

00:08:31.480 And now they out to catch a body

00:08:32.900 That's what they get for treating us like we in Squid Games

00:08:35.720 And I say that this Let's Go Brandon meme has come to Canada

00:08:41.720 because there was a memo circulating on social media

00:08:45.400 Again, it was getting millions of views on Twitter and on different social media sites

00:08:49.960 alleging to say that the Canadian government was banning any use of the euphemism

00:08:55.720 Let's Go Brandon, the anti-Joe Biden euphemism

00:08:58.060 Let's Go Brandon

00:08:59.060 That if any civil servant was found to be using this meme, they would be fired immediately

00:09:04.380 So this is the document

00:09:06.500 And let me just say, I saw it on Twitter

00:09:08.560 And we at True North held off on reporting on this

00:09:11.540 Because it just didn't seem real

00:09:13.440 I've worked in the Canadian government before

00:09:15.180 And there were a few things that were a little bit off

00:09:18.540 First things, it wasn't a screenshot

00:09:21.200 It wasn't a file that had been documented

00:09:23.660 It was a printed piece of paper

00:09:25.560 Which is just a little bit odd for a memo to come out in that form

00:09:29.600 Also, the way that the top of the paper is indented

00:09:32.980 It didn't look authentic

00:09:34.120 The way that the date was written was a little bit off

00:09:36.600 So there were some weird formatting issues that didn't make this look real

00:09:39.680 Which is why we at True North didn't run with it right away

00:09:42.600 But I will just say, the reason that this thing did go viral

00:09:46.260 Is because, let's be honest

00:09:47.780 You could imagine the Canadian government putting something like this out

00:09:50.820 This would be like par for the course for the Trudeau government

00:09:53.340 To ban a meme

00:09:55.480 And to say that anyone sharing a meme is

00:09:58.140 What, racist, violent, alt-right, whatever

00:10:01.540 And so it was believable

00:10:03.640 Which is, I think, why it did go viral

00:10:05.800 And it got reported in a few different outlets in the US

00:10:09.320 So it says this

00:10:10.420 Good day, this is a formal notification

00:10:12.560 That all government correspondents must be professional in nature

00:10:15.220 And approved by department heads

00:10:17.000 When applicable, all correspondents must be vetted

00:10:19.580 By the PMO for framing and message

00:10:21.820 Prior to public disclosure or internal distribution

00:10:25.780 And it goes on to say that

00:10:27.040 The use of colloquialism and sayings with intended double meaning or offense

00:10:30.880 Are strictly prohibited

00:10:32.020 In all means of correspondence communication

00:10:34.440 Specifically, the use of the wording

00:10:36.280 Let's go, Brandon

00:10:37.420 And any variation thereof

00:10:39.620 Under any circumstances is banned

00:10:41.740 By the Canadian Public Service

00:10:43.180 Please contact your department head

00:10:44.880 For the applicable writing references

00:10:46.900 We've been informed that this will be

00:10:49.160 Zero tolerance issue within the management structure

00:10:52.240 This position is fully supported by the leadership of PSEC

00:10:55.460 So you can tell right there

00:10:56.600 That this isn't even written in proper grammatical English

00:10:59.520 Which, again, was a bit of a red flag

00:11:01.100 And why we did think it was fake

00:11:03.380 Well, according to the National Post

00:11:05.300 They have confirmed that the memo is fake

00:11:08.600 It says thousands have shared an image of a memo

00:11:11.040 That appeared to be threatening Canadian civil servants

00:11:13.280 With immediate dismissal

00:11:14.400 If they use let's go, Brandon

00:11:16.440 According to Tristan Hopper over the National Post

00:11:18.660 He says

00:11:19.060 Federal government said it had nothing to do with a memo

00:11:21.600 Shared widely across the internet

00:11:23.120 Purporting to order a ban against usage of the term

00:11:26.180 Let's go, Brandon

00:11:26.960 By Canadian civil servants

00:11:28.200 Let's go, Brandon

00:11:29.440 Is used widely among conservative circles

00:11:31.720 As a euphemism for F. Joe Biden

00:11:34.400 In reference to U.S. President Joe Biden

00:11:36.900 It originated two weeks ago

00:11:38.200 When NASCAR driver Brandon Brown

00:11:39.900 Was being interviewed live on camera

00:11:42.020 In front of a crowd chanting F. Joe Biden

00:11:44.280 When the NBC anchor misinterpreted it

00:11:46.520 As a supportive chant of let's go, Brandon

00:11:49.440 Over the weekend

00:11:50.180 Thousands of people shared an image online

00:11:51.980 Of a paper memo

00:11:52.720 That appeared to be threatening Canadian civil servants

00:11:54.780 With immediate dismissal

00:11:56.580 If they use let's go, Brandon

00:11:58.020 In internal communications

00:11:59.660 And then he just goes on to dismiss it

00:12:02.820 Saying by Sunday night

00:12:03.620 The memo was making headlines

00:12:04.680 Across U.S. conservative media outlets

00:12:06.740 Canada threatens to fire

00:12:08.400 Federal employees using let's go, Brandon

00:12:10.220 And correspondence reads

00:12:11.500 One typical headline in The Daily Wire

00:12:14.060 One of the United States' most trafficked

00:12:15.580 Right-wing news outlets

00:12:16.520 The image appears to have originated

00:12:18.640 From a small anonymous Twitter account

00:12:20.460 Claimed to be based in Richmond, Virginia

00:12:22.840 And the account said that

00:12:24.540 The memo came to me in a DM

00:12:26.520 From a Canadian friend

00:12:27.480 I wasn't looking for any more followers or likes

00:12:30.080 I have known this Canadian friend

00:12:31.340 For quite some time

00:12:32.240 And they have always sent me the truth

00:12:35.000 He wrote

00:12:35.440 And he continues by saying

00:12:37.640 Canadian government departments

00:12:39.020 Are not known to promise

00:12:41.280 Immediate dismissal without recourse

00:12:43.160 Or label union representation

00:12:45.060 A policy that the memo claims

00:12:47.040 Has received support from union leaders

00:12:49.700 PSAC

00:12:50.500 The public service union mentioned in the memo

00:12:52.960 Is currently a strong opponent

00:12:54.800 Of policies to punish or dismiss civil servants

00:12:57.800 Who refuse to be vaccinated

00:12:59.260 So the whole thing doesn't add up

00:13:01.460 And here you go

00:13:02.380 According to the National Post

00:13:04.080 They say it is just not so

00:13:06.620 It's just not real

00:13:07.740 It is fake news

00:13:09.380 But I think again

00:13:10.180 The reason that so many people shared it

00:13:11.560 The reason why U.S. outlets reported on it

00:13:14.160 Is because it's something that could be true

00:13:16.120 It's within the realm of possibility

00:13:17.640 Given the insanity of the Trudeau government

00:13:20.620 And the way that they push

00:13:21.740 Their heavy-handed totalitarian measures

00:13:24.460 And again

00:13:25.200 I think that this is why

00:13:26.320 The whole let's go Brandon meme

00:13:28.760 Is taking off

00:13:29.860 You know

00:13:30.140 The media can sort of write it off

00:13:31.760 As a fringe right-wing phenomenon

00:13:33.760 But again

00:13:34.380 That doesn't really explain

00:13:35.160 Why it is the number one hip-hop song

00:13:37.080 In America right now

00:13:38.240 Why it is being chanted

00:13:39.940 At stadiums and concerts

00:13:42.000 Across the U.S.

00:13:43.120 Including in very staunch blue areas

00:13:45.860 Staunch pro-democrat areas

00:13:47.680 Like California

00:13:48.440 And New York

00:13:49.840 I think that what is happening

00:13:51.340 In our culture

00:13:52.020 Is that we are hitting a tipping point

00:13:54.020 People are just so sick

00:13:55.140 Of the heavy-handed COVID mandates

00:13:57.160 The heavy-handed rules

00:13:58.880 The restrictions

00:13:59.600 The ongoing

00:14:00.600 Never-ending

00:14:01.560 Lockdowns

00:14:02.840 Rules

00:14:03.280 Masks

00:14:04.080 Vaccines

00:14:04.700 All of it

00:14:05.380 People are just tired of it

00:14:06.400 They want to live their lives

00:14:07.420 They want their freedoms back

00:14:08.640 And they are just sick

00:14:10.320 Of heavy-handed measures

00:14:11.100 So that is why

00:14:12.120 They are saying

00:14:12.680 F you to Joe Biden

00:14:13.640 That is why

00:14:14.340 A fake memo

00:14:15.280 Of Justin Trudeau

00:14:16.780 Banning the use of the meme

00:14:18.000 Is so realistic

00:14:19.160 And so believable

00:14:20.040 Because people just

00:14:21.940 They've had enough

00:14:23.180 And this is a way

00:14:24.460 To fight back

00:14:25.600 You know

00:14:25.840 This isn't going to the ballot box

00:14:27.500 And voting them out

00:14:28.580 Because we can't do that right now

00:14:29.880 But what it is

00:14:30.720 Is the culture

00:14:31.980 The art

00:14:32.560 The internet culture

00:14:33.960 Fighting back

00:14:35.080 Pushing back

00:14:35.760 Making a mockery

00:14:36.760 Of the culture

00:14:38.460 Of the media

00:14:39.220 Of the sitting president

00:14:40.500 Saying enough is enough

00:14:42.120 And this is one of the best tools

00:14:43.360 That we have to push back

00:14:45.000 And it's good to see

00:14:46.120 When the culture

00:14:47.700 Is pushing back

00:14:48.720 Against the dominant

00:14:50.140 Left-wing norms

00:14:51.240 Because we all think

00:14:52.240 That the culture

00:14:52.760 Is dominated 1.00

00:14:53.500 By the sort of

00:14:54.520 Woke left-wing culture

00:14:55.700 But it isn't

00:14:56.500 It isn't

00:14:56.860 This shows that there is

00:14:58.040 Push back

00:14:58.900 From the sort of

00:15:00.580 Common sense

00:15:01.300 Side of the world

00:15:02.140 Pushing against

00:15:02.980 The woke left

00:15:03.700 Totalitarian mindset

00:15:05.240 That we see

00:15:06.320 In so many

00:15:07.220 Left-wing leaders

00:15:08.680 And politicians

00:15:09.920 And cultural figures

00:15:11.580 So again

00:15:12.320 It's silly

00:15:13.040 It's light-hearted

00:15:13.600 It's a meme

00:15:14.160 But again

00:15:14.780 It's an important

00:15:15.280 Cultural moment

00:15:16.060 Showing how

00:15:16.880 So many people

00:15:17.940 Have had enough

00:15:18.740 And this is how

00:15:19.320 They are pushing back

00:15:20.200 Against the totalitarian

00:15:21.920 Dominant left-wing ideology

00:15:23.860 I'm Candice Malcolm

00:15:24.720 And this is

00:15:25.320 The Candice Malcolm Show

Juno News - October 20, 2021

The “Let’s go Brandon” meme comes to Canada

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