Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
PresidentJoe Biden’s administration took a turn for the unexpected last year when the White House and other Democratic officials started embracing the"Dark Brandon" meme, transforming an internet joke into a tool for touting the president’s legislative achievements and campaigning for his reelection.
Though the antagonistic figurehead, which resembles the president — albeit with red laser beams shooting out of his eyes — is now associated with pro-Biden sentiments, it began as something far from it.
Here’s a look at the origins of Dark Brandon, what the bizarre nickname refers to and how Dark Brandon has been used in practice since the Biden administration first co-opted it in 2022.
What are the origins of Dark Brandon?
Dark Brandon did not capture most internet-dwelling Americans' hearts and minds until summer of 2022, but the character’s origins date back to before President Biden took office.
On Nov. 14, 2020 — just one week afterBiden won the 2020 election— Chinese illustrator Yang Quanuploaded several images to Weibodepicting the 46th president as evil, presiding over zombie-looking creatures on a throne seemingly made of assault weapons, according toPolitico. The first image in the set is the same illustration that Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, 49, would laterpost on Twitter, now called X.
“The sleeping king ascends the throne, the devil is resurrected,” reads the Chinese caption of one of the images, according to Politico.
What does the Dark Brandon nickname refer to?
Dark Brandon is a play on “Let’s Go Brandon,” a popular right-wing political meme that originated when anNBC Sports reporter interviewing NASCAR racer Brandon Brownin October 2021 seemingly misheard racing fans in Talladega, Alabama, chanting “F— Joe Biden,” as “Let’s go, Brandon,” according toVox.
That phrase took off as a means for Republican voters and officials in Congress to signify their dissatisfaction with the Biden administration. A host of Republican candidates and across the country and current officials in Congressadopted the phrase in the months that followed, and a father whose family spoke with Biden and first ladyJill Bidenon Christmas even used the phrase while on the phone with the president.
Meanwhile, Dark Brandon also owes part of his name to “Dark MAGA,” a hashtag and group of memes that “depict a ‘punished,’ more unhinged version of Donald Trump running for reelection in 2024 who has abandoned all optics, replacing his slogan MAGA with ‘Dark MAGA,'” according to online meme encyclopediaKnow Your Meme.
In March, Dark MAGA memes began circulating on the website4chanand social media platform X, and theDark MAGA Reddit community— now with 5,400 members — was created on March 16, 2022.
Dark Brandon in action
In August 2022,The New York Timesconfirmed in an article detailing the rise of Dark Brandon that Biden himself “has seen some of the Dark Brandon memes and found them funny,” citing several people close to the president. White House officials and Democratic politicians began using them around the same time that polling aggregators like FiveThirtyEight began tracking an uptick in Biden’s approval rating on the heels of groundbreaking legislation in the latter half of 2022.
Six days after White House senior advisor Neera Tanden joked onTwitterthat “lasers shooting out of Joe Biden’s eyes” is an official Biden administration position,CNNran an analysis piece titled “The same Joe Biden suddenly looks different.”
While popular conservative influencers likeBen Shapiroadmonished Dark Brandon memes as a distraction from Biden’s approval rating, Biden and the White House grew more aggressive in using social media to call out Republicans.
In August 2022, the official White House Twitter accountenjoyed a viral momentfollowing a series of matter-of-fact tweets that called out House representatives for criticizing the principle of student debt cancellation even though they had personally benefited fromPPP loanforgiveness. Democrats credited the roasts to Dark Brandon.
At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April 2023, Biden upped the ante,formally introducing the world to Dark Brandon as he slipped on dark sunglassesafter roasting his political opponents on stage.
And today, as the president finds himself in a tense battle for reelection, Dark Brandon merchandise has become a best-seller on his campaign site, and the silly character has become an equally effective campaign tool to characterize his no-nonsense attitude when it comes to defending the issues on which he’s built his platform.
source: people.com
