President Joe Biden had a nasty surprise on Christmas Eve while hosting the festive calls for families, along with the First Lady, Jill Biden. Jared Schmeck, a 35-year-old man from Oregon had a seemingly cordial conversation with Biden, but before ending the call, he uttered “Let’s go Brandon“. The phrase is actually an insult to the President, but the caller has now iterated that he didn’t mean any disrespect. At the same time, he claimed he was facing attacks for using his freedom of speech.  

Schmeck said it was a joke and he has nothing against Biden. However, the man clarified that he is frustrated as he feels the President could be doing a much better job. The Central Point resident has strongly stated that he is not a Donald Trump supporter but happens to be a free-thinking individual who believes in Jesus Christ. 

The former police officer continued that Biden seems like a cordial person and Schmeck’s statement lacked animosity. Despite admitting to knowing the vulgar meaning behind the phrase, Schmeck asserted that he wasn’t simple-minded enough to use it as an insult. Instead, his standpoint is that he was exercising his God-given rights to express human frustrations in a joking manner.

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Biden’s mask mandate and supply chain problems were key in fanning the flames of Schmeck’s anger. 

The tradition of the President receiving calls on Christmas Eve is a longstanding one and the Bidens took these calls to the North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracker. Each year, this appears to track Santa’s progress. During Trump’s presidency, there was a memorable moment when the President told a seven-year-old that believing in Santa was ‘marginal’ at that age. 

As for the phrase, “Let’s go Brandon”, it originated in an interview with a racing car driver. The reporter most likely misheard the crowd’s vulgar chant. Since then, right-wingers and pro-Trump supporters have co-opted the phrase. However, when Schmeck and his wife posted their side of the conversation online, they faced social media backlash, with many pointing out how Christmastime is hard for Biden, who lost his first wife and daughter in a car crash, this time of the year.