After a Southwest Airlines pilot reportedly ended an address to passengers with the words “Let’s go, Brandon” on Friday, a CNN analyst likened the man’s remark to the equivalence of something an ISIS terrorist might say.
Colleen Long of The Associated Press said that the incident took place Friday morning on a flight from Houston to Albuquerque. Video subsequently surfaced of an unidentified pilot uttering the anti-Biden phrase after welcoming the passengers to the flight. “Thanks for coming out and flying Southwest Airlines. Welcome aboard,” he said. “And remember,” he said softly, “Let’s go Brandon.”
TFW you’re trying to go on vacation and then the pilot says the very thing you’re working on over the loud speaker and you have to try to get him comment but then almost get removed from plane. https://t.co/xZI5FtLzJB
— Colleen Long (@ctlong1) October 30, 2021
CNN analyst Asha Rangappa promptly referenced the murderous ISIS terrorist group while addressing the pilot’s reported comment on social media. “As an experiment, I’d love for an [sic] @SouthwestAir pilot to say ‘Long live ISIS’ before taking off,” she tweeted. “My guess is that 1) the plane would be immediately grounded; 2) the pilot fired; and 3) a statement issued by the airline within a matter of hours”
As an experiment, I’d love for an @SouthwestAir pilot to say “Long live ISIS” before taking off. My guess is that 1) the plane would be immediately grounded; 2) the pilot fired; and 3) a statement issued by the airline within a matter of hours
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) October 31, 2021
Rangappa, who is also a senior lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former FBI agent, provided another example of legacy media critics indiscriminately comparing people presumed to be conservatives to terrorists, a trend that has metastasized from pro-life leaders to concerned parents at school board meetings.
Others hurled terrorist accusations at the airline, which relaxed its COVID-19 vaccine mandate after being forced to cancel more than 1,800 flights. Lindy Li, whom Vanity Fair describes as a “Biden operative,” tweeted Saturday that the airline’s “CEO opposes Biden’s vaccine mandate & won’t fire anyone who defies it, thus condoning bioterrorism.” Li, who also called the pilot “mentally impaired,” recently appeared on CNN to denounce the “heinous” Texas pro-life law that protects unborn children with a fetal heartbeat from being aborted.
A Southwest pilot said let’s go Brandon (F Biden) over the intercom but another reason to never fly @SouthwestAir?
Its CEO opposes Biden’s vaccine mandate & won’t fire anyone who defies it, thus condoning bioterrorism
I refuse to be trapped in a plane with unvaxxed crew members
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) October 31, 2021
“Southwest pilot screams out ‘Let’s go Brandon’ over the intercom,” tweeted Turn Texas Black falsely. “RT if you won’t book with Southwest Airlines unless this pilot is fired.”
When reached for comment, a representative for Southwest Airlines told the New York Post that “behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive will not be tolerated.”
The phrase has become increasingly common since NBC sportscaster Kelli Stavast interviewed NASCAR driver Brandon Brown at Talladega Superspeedway on October 2. Stavast told NBC viewers that the boisterous audience, which can be heard chanting “F*** Joe Biden,” was actually cheering, “Let go, Brandon!” The chant has since stood in as a less profane swipe at the president, as well as a rebuke of the legacy media’s shamelessly promoting disinformation — a role they seemed to resume after the latest incident. The Associated Press claimed on Saturday that the “phrase took off after a reporter at a NASCAR race mistook a crude anti-Biden chant as cheering for driver Brandon Brown.” Long reported that the phrase originated when the crowd began “chanting something at first difficult to make out.” But video footage of the incident leaves her conclusion far from obvious, as many clearly heard the phrase before Stavast’s remark. The Washington Post, meanwhile, cited the newly ubiquitous chant earlier this week to assert that President Biden has suffered “far more vulgar and widespread” criticism than any other recent president.
Long added that NBC and NASCAR have taken steps to stop crowd chants from being heard during interviews.
From the House floor to a Southwest Airlines flight, President Biden's critics have embraced the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon.” The phrase took off after a reporter at a NASCAR race mistook a crude anti-Biden chant as cheering for driver Brandon Brown. https://t.co/ToCAm75IrS
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 30, 2021
I’m pretty sure they’re not chanting “Let’s go Brandon” as the NBC reporter is telling us. What do you hear? #fjb pic.twitter.com/Ai6QU9uEZf
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 3, 2021
The “Let’s go, Brandon!” tweet would not be the first time CNN’s Rangappa has made controversial statements. 
Get your limited edition “Let’s Go Brandon” t-shirt here
In 2019, Rangappa tweeted that the U.S. Constitution had run its course. But she found no threat in the Obama administration spying on the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, insisting that “the FBI may have been acting cautiously — perhaps too cautiously — to protect the campaign, not undermine it,” she said. “Ironically, the FBI’s apparent attempt to protect the campaign by investigating Russia’s efforts quietly is now being weaponized against it.”
Last April, she deceptively implied that the president wanted U.S. governors to save ventilators, so he could send them to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He’s hoarding ventilators to give to…Russia??!?” she tweeted. In fact, the president promised to aid a wide variety of nations suffering from a lack of adequate medical equipment during the COVID-19 global pandemic. “We’re going to be helping Italy, Spain, France, other nations,” he said, placing Russia rhetorically at the end of the list.
Trump: “We’re going to be helping Italy, Spain, France, other nations & we’re going to be helping them strongly. I think Russia is going to need ventilators. They’re having a hard time in Moscow. We’re going to help them. We’re going to help other countries that need ventilators” pic.twitter.com/gWLfNSChJH
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 16, 2020
Last July, Rangappa was accused of a “breach of confidentiality” for speculating on the terms of CNN’s settlement with Nick Sandmann, the minor teenager accosted by a Baby Boomer American Indian activist who beat a drum in his face.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.