NASCAR driver Brandon Brown says he has no interest in getting involved in politics.
New York Times media columnist Ben Smith spoke with Brown, who became the center of the anti-Biden chant, “Let’s Go Brandon.”
“Mr. Brown wasn’t listening to the crowd when he was basking in his win. He first noticed that he had become a meme when he checked Twitter, which he uses almost exclusively for tweeting about NASCAR, with the occasional mild joke thrown in, for his nearly 30,000 followers,” Smith wrote.
He added, “He thought it was kind of funny, and a couple of days later he tweeted the phrase, followed by, ‘*not political … just feelin myself.’ He tried another line later that week: ‘To all the other Brandon’s out there, You’re welcome! Let’s go us.'”
To all the other Brandon’s out there, You’re welcome!
— Brandon Brown (@brandonbrown_68) October 6, 2021
Let’s go us
Brown told Smith, “Our whole navigation is, you want to appeal to everybody, because, all in all, everybody is a consumer.”
He continued, “I have zero desire to be involved in politics.”
The NASCAR driver explained he does not want the chant “to just be the substitute for a cuss-word,” adding, “I mean, if it’s making it more polite, then, by God, I guess, go ahead.”
Brown made it clear he wants to stay on the racing side of things.
“This whole Talladega race win was supposed to be a celebration, and then it was supposed to be something that I was able to use to move up, and I really wanted to capitalize on that,” Brown said.
He went on, “But with this meme going viral, it was more of, I had to stay more silent, because everybody wanted it to go on to the political side. I’m about the racing side.”
When asked about politics, Brown said, “I don’t know enough about politics to really form a true opinion, so I really focus on racing.”
Additionally, Brown told Smith if people will use his name, “I’d like for it to be productive.”
Concluding his column, Smith observed Brown “seemed resigned to the ritual of being interviewed by a newspaper reporter, and I think would have sat there with me by the track for quite a while more, navigating subjects he’s never really thought about.”
The columnist added, “We never got that far. It just didn’t seem fair. I found myself thinking that I would prefer to live in a country that permits racecar drivers, actors and musicians to avoid being grilled by people like me, and I made a quick exit.”
NASCAR President Steve Phelps also spoke out against the chant.
“Do we like the fact that it kind of started with NASCAR and then is gaining ground elsewhere? No, we’re not happy about that. But we will continue to make sure that we have respect for the office of the president,” he said.
