The Oregon man who sneaked in a notorious anti-Joe Biden slogan during a live phone call with Biden on Christmas Eve has since come forward with his motivations for making the unexpected remark, as reported by Breitbart.
Jared Schmeck, a former police officer and a father of four, was one of several callers during the event, which focused on the annual “tracking” of the location of Santa Claus by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). When Schmeck was the next caller, he ended his message to Biden with “Merry Christmas, and Let’s Go Brandon,” to which Biden responded “Let’s go Brandon, I agree.”
Speaking to the local outlet The Oregonian, Schmeck said that “at the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job.” Among the issues that Schmeck pointed to as examples of Biden’s failures were the ongoing federal mandates for masks and vaccines, as well as the historically high rates of inflation all across the country.
But Schmeck took time to defend Biden as a person, admitting that “he seems likes he’s a cordial guy. There’s no animosity or anything like that. It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner … I love him just like I love any other brother or sister.”
Schmeck said that, despite backlash from the left-wing media and “vague but threatening phone calls” in retaliation for the stunt, he “[stands] 100% behind what I did and what I said.”
“Let’s Go Brandon” emerged as a popular anti-Biden chant in October, as the family-friendly alternative to the original viral chant of “f*** Joe Biden,” which was frequently used at sporting events throughout 2021. In early October, at a NASCAR race during which driver Brandon Brown was being interviewed on live television by NBC Sports’ Kelli Stavast, the crowd began chanting the original chant; Stavast, attempting to cover up the vulgarity, claimed that the crowd was instead chanting “Let’s go Brandon.” The new phrase has since been used by conservative pundits, has appeared on merchandise, and has even been chanted at events featuring Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and other Democratic politicians.