Let’s go, Brandon … Vermont, that is.
Republicans in the Green Mountain State took advantage of a natural branding opportunity Saturday to host a rally in the tiny town of Brandon, Vt., that tweaked President Joe Biden while fund-raising for a local food bank.
Newly elected state party chairman Paul Dame, a former state representative who counts picturesque Brandon, population 4,129, as his hometown, organized the gathering to riff on the cheeky anti-Biden phrase that has inspired hit songs, political fashion statements, and endless memes.
“If it was just about being upset with the president, it would have faded out pretty quickly,” Dame said in a YouTube video he posted Tuesday to plug the rally.
“I think it taps into the fact that people feel like they’re not being heard, not being represented, that they’re being glossed over and lost,” he said.
Supporters are meeting on Brandon’s leafy village green — with its classic gazebo and burbling fountain — to buy branded hats, shirts and stickers as a benefit for the Brandon Area Emergency Food Shelf.
“President Biden has done nothing to help the people of Vermont,” Dame said. “So VT Republicans are going to do something to support the people of Vermont.”
The rise of “Let’s go Brandon” as a sly substitute for the “F–k Joe Biden” chants heard in recent months at concerts and sporting events has driven fury on the left.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Friday that the president has paid it no mind.
“I don’t think he spends much time focused on it or thinking about it,” she said.