Jared Schmeck became an instant Twitter-trend when he ended a Christmas phone call with President Joe Biden by saying, “Let’s go Brandon” — a phrase that has been used both as a euphemism for the phrase “f*** Joe Biden” and as a critique of legacy media for running cover for the Biden administration.
Schmeck, a former police officer and father of four from Oregon, ended the call by saying, “Merry Christmas … and let’s go Brandon!”
Biden responded, “Let’s go Brandon I agree.”
Joe and Jill Biden took calls from the NORAD Tracks Santa program and a dad ended the call by saying, “Merry Christmas, and let’s go Brandon.”
“Let’s go Brandon, I agree,” Biden replied. pic.twitter.com/K4q0jIB6ww
— Kyle Morris (@RealKyleMorris) December 24, 2021
Schmeck told The Oregonian/Oregon Live that he has received threats since making the comment, but says that he meant no ill will against the president and doesn’t even dislike him — he only meant to voice his frustrations in what he perceived as a “joking manner.”
“At the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job. I mean no disrespect to him,” Schmeck said. He told the outlet that he did not think of himself as a “Trumper,” instead describing himself as a “free-thinking American and follower of Jesus Christ.”
He also said that the opportunity to speak to President Biden directly was unexpected — he and his family have called the NORAD Santa Tracker hotline every Christmas Eve for years, and he had expected the call to be automated and had not expected it to be livestreamed.
“We just waited on hold and then they answered. And I thought, ‘wow, this is real,'” he said.
Immediately after the call, Schmeck’s wife reportedly outed him on Instagram, saying, “My husband may or may not have just told joe and jill Biden ‘let’s go Brandon’ on the phone.”
Schmeck also posted his own video of the call, with President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on speaker, on his own YouTube channel:
OregonLive reported that Schmeck said he’s been receiving “vague but threatening phone calls” since the phone call:
Schmeck called his remark a “joke,” and a reflection of his frustration with Biden’s policies, including the federal vaccine mandates, inflation and global supply chain problems that have caused shortages in consumer products.
“And now I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech,” Schmeck said, adding that he’s been receiving some vague but threatening phone calls since the Santa tracker call.
“I understand there is a vulgar meaning to ‘Lets go Brandon,’ but I’m not that simple minded, no matter how I feel about him,” the 35-year-old father said Christmas morning. “He seems likes he’s a cordial guy. There’s no animosity or anything like that. It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner…I love him just like I love any other brother or sister.”
He went on to say he “stood 100% behind what I did and what I said.”