The View from Lady Lake: Who is the is Brandon guy, Joe?

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Who is the is Brandon guy, Joe?

"Republicans seem to support one fella,

some guy named Brandon," Biden said. "He's having

a really good year. I'm happy for him."

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Owner Keith Lambert plans to expand his business into Salisbury and Cape Cod, Massachusetts – increasing his locations from eight to 10 to keep up with the demand during the Biden presidency.

"A customer came into one of our locations Tuesday and bought a Let’s Go Brandon sticker and went out to his car and stuck it over his Biden sticker," Lambert said. "And that was it, he was just like, ‘I’m done with this guy.’"

"People have buyer’s remorse," he added. "Business is very, very good right now."

The phrase, "Let’s go, Brandon," took the internet by storm in early October after an NBC reporter at a NASCAR Xfinity Series race incorrectly reported that fans in the stands were chanting "Let’s Go Brandon" following a victory by driver Brandon Brown, when they were really shouting, "F--- Joe Biden!" The phrase has since become a wildly popular anti-Biden rallying cry, breaking out at concerts, sporting events and even churches.

Lambert’s stores at the time were named New England for Trump, but he decided to cash in on the craze and by early November he had rebranded one of them as a Let’s Go Brandon store in Hanson, Massachusetts. It was so successful that he opened a new Let’s Go Brandon location in North Attleboro, also in Massachusetts, and rebranded the rest of his stores as Let’s Go Brandon as well.

Lambert has other locations in Bellingham, East Bridgewater, Easton, Somerset, and Warwick, Rhode Island, and a pop-up store that opens when the weather permits. He also has an online store, called New England for Trump, that sells a wide range of Let’s Go Brandon gear, including shirts, hats, masks, and ornaments.

"New England for Trump is your one-stop shop for all things Trump and Patriotic," the website says. "The word is out and the silent majority have spoken!"

Lambert said the community reception of his stores has been largely positive but not completely without controversy. He said some critics have lashed out with negative online reviews and that every once in a while they’ll get an email or phone call "with the stupid stuff that they say."

Most recently, he said he received a letter in the mail wishing death on him and his family. "For the most part, it hasn’t been bad," he said. "I don’t take them seriously."

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In what appears to be a swift resolution of a pending primary ballot concern, a Republican challenger to longtime New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith cannot use a catchphrase derogatory to President Joe Biden as his campaign slogan at the polls in June.

The New Jersey Globe reported that the state Division of Elections reached that decision Wednesday, two days after a previous report that attorney Robert Shapiro had sought to print "Let's Go Brand*n — FJB" below his name in his 4th District GOP race against Smith, who is seeking a 22nd term in Congress.

According to the New Jersey Globe report, Shapiro does have one final chance to amend his motto. Division of Elections director Robert Giles gave Shapiro until 4 p.m. Thursday to either show written permission to use "Let's Go Brandon" or come up with an alternate phrase.

Under state law, the report said, any slogan using a person's name requires written consent, although it is not clear in this case whether Biden, Brown, or both would be obligated to approve.

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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has led a Congressional delegation to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine's president before heading to Poland for talks with officials there. Pelosi, a California Democrat and second in line to the presidency after the vice president (The thought of which is scary on it's own), is the highest-ranking American leader to visit Ukraine since the start of the war, and her visit marks a major show of continuing support for the country's struggle against Russia.

"Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine," Pelosi said in a statement released Sunday. Footage released by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office showed Pelosi and other U.S. legislators in Kyiv.

The full Congressional delegation included Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Schiff, of California who chairs the House Intelligence Committee; Jim McGovern of Massachusetts who chairs the House Rules Committee; Jason Crow of Colorado; Barbara Lee of California; and Bill Keating of Massachusetts.

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