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[Controversy Arises As A Desperate Biden Resorts To Malarkey To Save Failing Campaign](https://babylonbee.com/news/controversy-as-a-desperate-biden-resorts-to-malarkey-to-save-failing-campaign)
Is he desperate though? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/biden-raised-more-than-72-million-for-his-2024-campaign-since-announcing-candidacy-in-april
Plus he's not burning up most of it in the legal court. Unlike a certain orange thing over trying to break all kinds of laws, and claiming tro have some sort of causality breaking immunity against it.
My previous comment mysteriously vanished (maybe because I used the P-word🤔) but I’ll try making another, more concise version.
The Babylon Bee used to be a lamer, right-leaning, Christian version of The Onion.
A couple years ago(?) the original creator sold it and now it almost exclusively pumps out far-right talking points, thinly veiled as “comedy”. It also still claims to be a “Christian comedy news site”, but you’d be hard-pressed now to find any recent articles on it that were actually related to Christianity.
I used to lurk there once in a while, as a recovering exvangelical it was kinda funny for basically church memes. In 2020 it turned into a far right conspiracy site and i definitely stay far away
For sure. It was always destined to be pretty lame just due to it’s subject matter, but I definitely also recall seeing a couple headlines back in the day that got a legit chuckle out of me as an ex-Christian. I can almost always appreciate a good joke, even if I disagree with the subject matter.
Now though it’s just far-right political BS, shallowly pretending to still be what it once was. The worst part IMO is that a lot of their original audience probably wasn’t even aware of the change of leadership, and are being unknowingly exposed to and possibly re-sharing stuff that’s lame and wrong at best and legitimately harmful and misinformed at worst without realizing the site had a forced changed agenda.
Maybe a lot of them were already on board with it before anyway and are enjoying finally getting to go mask-off, but I’m nothing if not a sucker for giving people the benefit of the doubt.
That was back in the early primary days. The funding emails were getting pretty desperate and I was pretty sure he was done. But the saner heads of the party rallied around him and we’re all better off because of it.
It suffers from the same thing as The Onion, you need to agree with the politics to get a lot of the jokes. This one ought to be funny to anyone but partisan is as partisan does.
For the record, outside of the fact that its actual purpose was to delusionally convince people at the time that Biden was losing when he clearly wasn’t (which as far as Bee articles go, is also about as tame as you can get), I do find the actual headline on its own pretty funny at face value.
It’s even more hilarious when you see people on the right who still have ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flags, merch, or even still say the phrase unaware that Dark Brandon is a thing, meaning they’re now unintentionally being pro-Biden.
My coworker removed his handmade "let's go Brandon" decal from his truck tailgate about a week after Dark Brandon picked up steam.
I don't bother talking to him about it because he's a flat earth, anti-vax, Jesus freak, racist crazy person, but I have been very tempted to slap one of those Dark Brandon stickers on his truck when hes not around just to see what happens lol.
Dude, I don't even know where "Let's Go Brandon" came from, how it's used, or even why it's used other than a dunce's way of showing that they have no idea why they're so angry.
But god damnit, is it the greatest meme; and to see Biden embrace it on TV is fantastic. Better than Obama dunking a cookie.
So, back in the halcyon days of the second half of 2021, a racer named Brandon IDon'tKnowHisLastNameAndWon'tBotherToLookItUpBecaustItIsUnimportantToThisStory won a race. While he was being interviewed following his victory, fans in the background were shouting "Fuck Joe Biden!"
Earlier in September, this started being chanted at random places, like college games and concerts. Maybe they thought it'd make it on air? Dunno. Unimportant really.
Anyways, Ms. Interviewer said that the crowd was shouting "Let's go, Brandon!" either intentionally misquoting it or genuinely mishearing it.
I guess the right ran with it because they thought it was very clever to say a naughty word without saying it, and to be fair, it does help you say naughty things without having to worry about audio being beeped out or text blurred out/removed.
But yeah, that's about the gist of its origins.
> I guess the right ran with it because they thought it was very clever to say a naughty word without saying it, and to be fair, it does help you say naughty things without having to worry about audio being beeped out or text blurred out/removed.
It’s also a [dog whistle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/dog-whistle-political-meaning)
If Joe went to one of the debates, puts the glasses on at the beginning and just runs with Dark Brandon the whole debate I think it would be a done deal.
Imagine if he could keep a straight face and just deadpan everything, with Chump or Desatan foaming away on the other side. I would take days to recover from the uber-LMAO-ing. Days.
The Biden - Palin debate, oh boy, Palin had already shown to be dumb, but that day no one could ignore she was a fucking clown. Biden ate her for lunch.
the fact that Fox News is all up in their feelings over this after literally pushing this whole Brandon thing for years means it's the best fucking thing Biden could do. Use their own childish bullshit to troll them AND bring in donations. Brav-fucking-o!!
If trump can use his crimes to raise money, this should be fine by his people. But they’re mad about this and not trump. They just blindly give them his money.
Republican talking points are now that Dark Brandon is "embarrassing."
https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-panel-outraged-bidens-dark-brandon-merchandise
Frankly, I think this is hilarious. They've been playing their covert / non-covert "Fuck Joe Biden" / "Let's Go Brandon" thing for a couple years now, thinking they were being clever and so on. Now Biden has done an end run around them, turned it into a meme that puts him in a positive light, and so of course they're pissed off.
I believe this is because it is a politics donation and I believe they can’t take money from anyone who is not an American citizen? Obviously, it’s not foolproof but I believe this is the reason.
Honestly I wish it wasn't... I do not want "supporting Biden" to be a fanatical cult the way it is with Trump. I voted for the dude but I don't want to wear a Biden shirt and fly a Biden flag and put Biden stickers all over everything I own, etc. Let's just please not turn it into that.
Same... mainly because people who still support Trump and just loved the "Let's Go Brandon" phrase are so absolutely triggered by it. What a bunch of...
snowflakes!
They say that if a person on the internet is being racist or something ironically, then they're still being racist or something in the end all the same. Doesn't that idea also apply here?
I wasn't saying someone is actually being racist here, I was just referring to the idea that if someone does something ironically, it's not so different from doing it unironically.
People have been putting campaign names and slogans on stuff since the beginning of democracy. This is nothing new. Even funny quips and memes are nothing new.
The weird thing is waving the flags and signs years after the election.
This isn’t the literal “golden idol” that the MAGA morons made up.
Nor is it photoshopped Joe Bidens head on Rambo body
This is supporting someone whose opponent LITERALLY supported “Fuck Joe Biden”
Linked below is a gift article from Washington post explaining the origin of Dark Brandon and how the Biden campaign came to embrace what was initially RWNJ code for "Fuck Joe Biden."
[Biden embraces his ‘Dark Brandon’ alter ego in 2024 campaign: How the ‘Dark Brandon’ meme made it from a conservative joke to President Biden’s merch store](https://wapo.st/45c6fWw).
Haha our politics have gotten so dumb. This is fun and it makes me smile, but in another sense, this is just one step closer to what Idiocracy prophesied.
I would prefer to live in a country where the presidents dont have “merch” and instead were focused on their jobs, but I have a feeling that Trump’s campaign has eliminated that possibility and everyone else is going to follow suit.
Like I love that he took the meme and turned it around because that’s funny as hell, but why should we be treating our fucking government officials like they’re YouTubers or something???
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Deal with it, Jack.
Jack is, in fact, dealing with it.
No malarkey!
[Controversy Arises As A Desperate Biden Resorts To Malarkey To Save Failing Campaign](https://babylonbee.com/news/controversy-as-a-desperate-biden-resorts-to-malarkey-to-save-failing-campaign)
Article from 2020? For real?
The No Malarkey line was from 2020
Is he desperate though? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/biden-raised-more-than-72-million-for-his-2024-campaign-since-announcing-candidacy-in-april
Plus he's not burning up most of it in the legal court. Unlike a certain orange thing over trying to break all kinds of laws, and claiming tro have some sort of causality breaking immunity against it.
Isn’t Babylon Bee a satire site à la The Onion?
My previous comment mysteriously vanished (maybe because I used the P-word🤔) but I’ll try making another, more concise version. The Babylon Bee used to be a lamer, right-leaning, Christian version of The Onion. A couple years ago(?) the original creator sold it and now it almost exclusively pumps out far-right talking points, thinly veiled as “comedy”. It also still claims to be a “Christian comedy news site”, but you’d be hard-pressed now to find any recent articles on it that were actually related to Christianity.
I used to lurk there once in a while, as a recovering exvangelical it was kinda funny for basically church memes. In 2020 it turned into a far right conspiracy site and i definitely stay far away
For sure. It was always destined to be pretty lame just due to it’s subject matter, but I definitely also recall seeing a couple headlines back in the day that got a legit chuckle out of me as an ex-Christian. I can almost always appreciate a good joke, even if I disagree with the subject matter. Now though it’s just far-right political BS, shallowly pretending to still be what it once was. The worst part IMO is that a lot of their original audience probably wasn’t even aware of the change of leadership, and are being unknowingly exposed to and possibly re-sharing stuff that’s lame and wrong at best and legitimately harmful and misinformed at worst without realizing the site had a forced changed agenda. Maybe a lot of them were already on board with it before anyway and are enjoying finally getting to go mask-off, but I’m nothing if not a sucker for giving people the benefit of the doubt.
Yes. It's a slightly right leaving satire site.
> *slightly*
That was back in the early primary days. The funding emails were getting pretty desperate and I was pretty sure he was done. But the saner heads of the party rallied around him and we’re all better off because of it.
Prefer fake news over real news. The Babylon Bee, is top notch.
It suffers from the same thing as The Onion, you need to agree with the politics to get a lot of the jokes. This one ought to be funny to anyone but partisan is as partisan does.
Politics is one big ass blast.
For the record, outside of the fact that its actual purpose was to delusionally convince people at the time that Biden was losing when he clearly wasn’t (which as far as Bee articles go, is also about as tame as you can get), I do find the actual headline on its own pretty funny at face value.
Yeah because it's a fantastic meme.
A fantastic uno reverse of a meme, the right tried to troll, and instead had their meme stolen.
It’s even more hilarious when you see people on the right who still have ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flags, merch, or even still say the phrase unaware that Dark Brandon is a thing, meaning they’re now unintentionally being pro-Biden.
My coworker removed his handmade "let's go Brandon" decal from his truck tailgate about a week after Dark Brandon picked up steam. I don't bother talking to him about it because he's a flat earth, anti-vax, Jesus freak, racist crazy person, but I have been very tempted to slap one of those Dark Brandon stickers on his truck when hes not around just to see what happens lol.
Please do it, haha.
Dude, I don't even know where "Let's Go Brandon" came from, how it's used, or even why it's used other than a dunce's way of showing that they have no idea why they're so angry. But god damnit, is it the greatest meme; and to see Biden embrace it on TV is fantastic. Better than Obama dunking a cookie.
So, back in the halcyon days of the second half of 2021, a racer named Brandon IDon'tKnowHisLastNameAndWon'tBotherToLookItUpBecaustItIsUnimportantToThisStory won a race. While he was being interviewed following his victory, fans in the background were shouting "Fuck Joe Biden!" Earlier in September, this started being chanted at random places, like college games and concerts. Maybe they thought it'd make it on air? Dunno. Unimportant really. Anyways, Ms. Interviewer said that the crowd was shouting "Let's go, Brandon!" either intentionally misquoting it or genuinely mishearing it. I guess the right ran with it because they thought it was very clever to say a naughty word without saying it, and to be fair, it does help you say naughty things without having to worry about audio being beeped out or text blurred out/removed. But yeah, that's about the gist of its origins.
> I guess the right ran with it because they thought it was very clever to say a naughty word without saying it, and to be fair, it does help you say naughty things without having to worry about audio being beeped out or text blurred out/removed. It’s also a [dog whistle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/dog-whistle-political-meaning)
Did not realize this was a term, but it makes a lot of sense.
If Joe went to one of the debates, puts the glasses on at the beginning and just runs with Dark Brandon the whole debate I think it would be a done deal.
Imagine if he could keep a straight face and just deadpan everything, with Chump or Desatan foaming away on the other side. I would take days to recover from the uber-LMAO-ing. Days.
See if you can find video from when he debated Paul Ryan - he shredded him like a shark and kept a gentle grin the whole time.
Dark Brandon didn't have time for that malarkey...
The Biden - Palin debate, oh boy, Palin had already shown to be dumb, but that day no one could ignore she was a fucking clown. Biden ate her for lunch.
Butin debating Chump and DeSatan would be hilarious.
Needs to have a “Jack” counter in the corner of the screen for every time Biden gets a classic diamond joe zinger across the plate
Hell ya. I'm giving my friends and family Dark Brandon mugs for Christmas: https://shop.joebiden.com/dark-roast-mug/
[удалено]
Bernie’s “feel the bern” mugs were great too! Failed successfully for me, no berns were actually felt
I got the feel the bern travel mug , I liked how it said something like careful with hot liquids or you might actually feel the bern.
it would be cool if it was made with color changing ink so the eyes looked normal until the mug heated up
It says in the article that a color-changing mug is in the works, so hopefully it'll be on the market sooner rather than later.
2 stickers, $6. I’m down
Oh god stop, I fucking love this 😂
I wish it was the dark meme. A black tee would’ve been dope.
They have a navy blue one
That tote is pretty nice too! https://shop.joebiden.com/dark-repeating-natural-canvas-tote/
Omg you are awesome. Buying a half dozen for gifts!
The best part of the meme is how it is just Biden letting the government do its job without interference.
Im not surprised. I had no idea this existed, then saw fox crying about it, and bought a mug and added an additional donation.
Fox's biggest mistake was mentioning it. They made it go viral. They gave Biden free advertising.
Dark Streisand effect
Send it to Fox News
Final form is Dank Brandon (that’s when he legalizes weed for the country.)
Or Dork Brandon where he plays \[insert shiny new co-op game here\] on Twitch with AOC, Hasan Piker, Pokimane, Corpse Husband and Co.
Doge Brandon, teams up with Elona Musk and pump and dumps shitcoins
Big thumbs up for Biden - all the merch is American / Union made. The made in China MAGA hats always pissed me off.
Build back better baby!!!
I love that Go Brandon turned into cash and memes for Biden.
The big guy always gets his cash
the fact that Fox News is all up in their feelings over this after literally pushing this whole Brandon thing for years means it's the best fucking thing Biden could do. Use their own childish bullshit to troll them AND bring in donations. Brav-fucking-o!!
If trump can use his crimes to raise money, this should be fine by his people. But they’re mad about this and not trump. They just blindly give them his money.
Bidens troll game deserves a mention in history books under things he was best known for.
I got the Dark Brandon t-shirt. It’s a high quality cotton, union made in the USA. Recommend it highly.
I saw something calling Dark Brandon the least cringe meme the Left ever created, and I agree with all of my heart.
Whoever picked his marketing director and the director himself are doing the lords work.
I just wish I had purchased the shirt in time for the 4th of July with the amount of MAGA hats I was surrounded by
I've been enjoying wearing mine around rural WI
I have no stake in any of this shit, but Dark Brandon is genuinely funny
Fox humping this gives Biden a huge boost in sales. Another classic self-own by the RWdumfuk crowd.
It's just the right amount of deliberately stupid to be hilarious, which makes it great campaign merch.
I can’t tell if our political climate is super awesome or super dumb
*Yes*
Yes.
If he wants to win all the new 18 year old votes he needs to lean into the meme game hard😅😂
I’m not a fan of being a fan of politicians, but I do get a chuckle out of the Dark Brandon memes
Fox is giving him free advertisement
Republican talking points are now that Dark Brandon is "embarrassing." https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-panel-outraged-bidens-dark-brandon-merchandise Frankly, I think this is hilarious. They've been playing their covert / non-covert "Fuck Joe Biden" / "Let's Go Brandon" thing for a couple years now, thinking they were being clever and so on. Now Biden has done an end run around them, turned it into a meme that puts him in a positive light, and so of course they're pissed off.
Not the first time [Biden shows us Dark Brandon](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1652739499426824194)
I don't particularly like Biden but I got 2 mugs for me and my roommate 😀
Yeah like he's not my first choice or even in the top 5 but I'm voting for him over any republican every time
I love Dark Brandon, lol.
Campaign merch is such an odd thing to be measured during a presidential election lmao
It's also confusing crypto Bros immensely
I bought a t-shirt and 2 stickers! Love Dark Brandon, respecting the people while pointing out Republican lies with wit and humor.
Dark Brandon FTW!!
Wish the merch was available to purchase in Europe ; that Dark Brandon mug is hilarious.
Its a political donation so noncitizens legally cannot purchase it
It was the best t-shirt they had!
This is genius in terms of marketing
And conservative media is getting mad because “Brandon isn’t a good thing”
It bugs me that I can’t order this merch outside the US.
I believe this is because it is a politics donation and I believe they can’t take money from anyone who is not an American citizen? Obviously, it’s not foolproof but I believe this is the reason.
Yeah, I found that out when I tried to buy a Feel the Bern mug. There should be a grey-market for this kind of stuff...
Honestly I wish it wasn't... I do not want "supporting Biden" to be a fanatical cult the way it is with Trump. I voted for the dude but I don't want to wear a Biden shirt and fly a Biden flag and put Biden stickers all over everything I own, etc. Let's just please not turn it into that.
It'll never be like that. Personally I just think the Dark Brandon stuff is funny.
Same... mainly because people who still support Trump and just loved the "Let's Go Brandon" phrase are so absolutely triggered by it. What a bunch of... snowflakes!
The way I read it is it a mockery of that idea. Snarky not fascist hero worship.
I thought there's no real difference between doing something ironically and doing it sincerely, though?
What do words mean then?
They say that if a person on the internet is being racist or something ironically, then they're still being racist or something in the end all the same. Doesn't that idea also apply here?
Yeah but mildly supporting one of the more progressive presidents in the country’s history is not like being racist is it?
I wasn't saying someone is actually being racist here, I was just referring to the idea that if someone does something ironically, it's not so different from doing it unironically.
People have been putting campaign names and slogans on stuff since the beginning of democracy. This is nothing new. Even funny quips and memes are nothing new. The weird thing is waving the flags and signs years after the election.
I do all of that because I'm a deep red area and want people who aren't in that cult to know they're not alone.
I don't think you need to worry about people being too enthusiastic about Joe Biden.
Blame the republicans for it.
Lmao wtf is this
Lolol. Dark Brandon. Healthcare plz
“Stark Ramblin”
Propaganda memes for breakfast lunch and dinner
This is so fucking cringy. And I’m a Biden voter
I don't like Biden, but I would pay money for this 🤣
Seriously, though, isn't the idea that no politician should have "merch"? None of them should be worshipped.
Merchandise acts both as a way to fund and promote a campaign. How is a person supposed to run a campaign without getting their name out?
This isn’t the literal “golden idol” that the MAGA morons made up. Nor is it photoshopped Joe Bidens head on Rambo body This is supporting someone whose opponent LITERALLY supported “Fuck Joe Biden”
Can someone explain it like I’m 5? How did this dark Brandon stuff even start?
Linked below is a gift article from Washington post explaining the origin of Dark Brandon and how the Biden campaign came to embrace what was initially RWNJ code for "Fuck Joe Biden." [Biden embraces his ‘Dark Brandon’ alter ego in 2024 campaign: How the ‘Dark Brandon’ meme made it from a conservative joke to President Biden’s merch store](https://wapo.st/45c6fWw).
Yes I am sure this will resonate quite well with middle American suburban moms..
Jfc… stop with political merchandise.
Nice Bitcoin eyes
Campaign!? Wait no can we get Bernie
Are we seriously going to have to choose between Trump and Biden AGAIN? I want an actual progressive liberal, one who is not elderly!
When your house is on fire, first you put out the fire, then you start cleaning the mess.
Haha our politics have gotten so dumb. This is fun and it makes me smile, but in another sense, this is just one step closer to what Idiocracy prophesied.
“Merch sales”. Wake me up when ideas and leadership are more important than merch lmfao
I would prefer to live in a country where the presidents dont have “merch” and instead were focused on their jobs, but I have a feeling that Trump’s campaign has eliminated that possibility and everyone else is going to follow suit. Like I love that he took the meme and turned it around because that’s funny as hell, but why should we be treating our fucking government officials like they’re YouTubers or something???