Driver of ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ fame has ‘zero desire to be involved in politics’

The NASCAR driver associated with the “Let’s Go Brandon” slogan that has become popular among supporters of former President Trump to indirectly insult President Biden says he wants nothing to do with politics.

Brandon Brown, 28, told The New York Times he fears that his association with this partisan slogan may risk losing him corporate sponsorships, with companies reluctant to tie their names to divisive rhetoric.

“Our whole navigation is, you want to appeal to everybody, because, all in all, everybody is a consumer,” Brown told Times media columnist Ben Smith. “I have zero desire to be involved in politics.”

The slogan started after a NASCAR event in October when Brown won his first Xfinity Series race. During a post-race interview, an NBC Sports reporter suggested the crowd was chanting “Let’s go Brandon” when the crowd actually chanted “F— Joe Biden.”

The moment quickly went viral, and has led numerous figures on the right, including some Republican lawmakers in Congress, to use the phrase “Let’s go Brandon” as a veiled insult toward Biden.

Brown told the Times he wasn’t able to hear the crowd at the time and was too busy celebrating his victory. After he saw what had developed on Twitter, he said he initially thought it was funny.

When asked if he thinks people should be cursing at Biden, Brown, who is a Republican, said he doesn’t know enough about politics to “form a true opinion” and would rather focus on driving.

“This whole Talladega race win was supposed to be a celebration, and then it was supposed to be something that I was able to use to move up, and I really wanted to capitalize on that,” he added. “But with this meme going viral, it was more of, I had to stay more silent, because everybody wanted it to go on to the political side. I’m about the racing side.”

Brown expressed a fear of being “canceled” by association to the phrase and suggested that people chant “Let’s Go America” instead.

In an op-ed published by Newsweek on Monday, Brown wrote, “Politics has never been that interesting to me. Though, like most, I have always had the impression that politicians were likely the cause of more problems than they were the solutions.”

Brown said that “people have a right to frustration—even anger,” but added that he has “no interest in leading some political fight.”