You may be seeing the phrase, “Let’s go, Brandon” all over social media. But who is Brandon, and why are people cheering him on? Well, there’s some bad news.

The phrase isn’t a cheer for someone named Brandon. It’s actually a vulgar term essentially telling Biden to fuck himself. It’s popular among conservatives and members of the GOP who think they are being slick and in unison by using it.

But how exactly did it start and why “Brandon”? As do many other stupid and horrible things, the phrase began at a NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. After 28-year-old driver Brandon Brown won his first Xfinity Series on Oct. 2, crowds chanted what reporters thought was “Let’s go, Brandon!”

“As you can hear the chants from the crowd—‘Let’s go, Brandon,’” an NBC News reporter commented. But in reality, the crowds were chanting “Fuck Joe Biden.” And that, my friends, is how the phrase came to be.

Within days, “Let’s go, Brandon” became the go-to phrase to curse off Biden. Groups across the nation took to it including those supporting local candidates or protesting.

Republicans even thought it would be okay to show up to Congress yelling the profanity. While Rep. Bill Posey of Florida ended a House floor speech with a fist pump and the phrase, “Let’s go, Brandon!” on Oct. 21, South Carolina’s Jeff Duncan wore a “Let’s Go Brandon” face mask at the Capitol last week. But the phrase goes beyond political events.

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posed with a “Let’s go, Brandon” sign at the World Series and Sen. Mitch McConnell’s press secretary retweeted a photo of the phrase on a construction sign in Virginia.

Republicans think they are so slick in using the term as vulgarity without using the vulgar language itself, but there is nothing funny or classy about using it.

“Unless you are living in a cave, you know what it means,” Veteran GOP ad maker Jim Innocenzis said. “But it’s done with a little bit of a class. And if you object and are taking it too seriously, go away.”

The viral phrase has, of course, been picked up by Donald Trump. What else would an uncreative mind do than attempt to capitalize on the top trending phrase against his so-called enemy? Trump’s campaign team announced the addition of the phrase to his “Save America” shirts on Oct. 28. Those shirts are priced at $45 each. “#FJB or LET’S GO BRANDON? Either way, President Trump wants YOU to have our ICONIC new shirt,” a message advertising the shirts read.

Trump isn’t the only one to hop on the capitalism bandwagon, though. According to The Miami Herald, a rapper also released a “Let’s go, Brandon” rap song and the song topped Apple’s iTunes charts for multiple days.

Some have taken the phrase so far to even claim they will dress like it for Halloween. In conversation with other Fox News hosts, Harris Faulkner said she was planning to go as “Brandon” from “Let’s go, Brandon.”

While vulgarities and phrases like this are not new to America’s history of vitriol toward presidents, what makes this different is the amplification through social media

“We have a sense of the dignity of the office of president that has consistently been violated to our horror over the course of American history,” said Cal Jillison, a politics expert and professor in the political science department at Southern Methodist University. “We never fail to be horrified by some new outrage.”

Most recently, it was used by a pilot on a Southwest Airlines flight during the pilot’s greeting to passengers over the plane’s public address system last week, the Associated Press reported. As a result, Southwest Airlines announced Sunday it is conducting an internal investigation into the pilot’s use of the phrase. 

In a statement, the airline said it would “address the situation directly with any Employee involved while continuing to remind all Employees that public expression of personal opinions while on duty is unacceptable.”

“Southwest does not condone Employees sharing their personal political opinions while on the job serving our Customers, and one Employee’s individual perspective should not be interpreted as the viewpoint of Southwest and its collective 54,000 Employees,” the statement continued.

Brandon Brown, after whom the phrase is coined, is struggling for sponsorships and partners since the slogan went viral. Maybe he should’ve thought out the consequences before expressing his support for the phrase, huh.

Yet, “Let’s go, Brandon” is not the only embarrassing thing GOP officials have taken a liking to. I guess Lauren Boebert thought, “Hey, if someone can make a music video—why can’t I?”

I’m just gonna leave that there. No further comment.

Watch the video that started it all here:

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