'I'm Bringing Roe Back' (Exclusive)
.jpg)
From midnight on Wednesday until 11:59 p.m., the internet meme-turned-campaign tool is taking over Fox News' website with pro-choice ads touting Biden's mission to defend abortion rights, one year after the conservative Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Rob Flaherty, deputy campaign manager for Biden's 2024 campaign and former director of digital strategy in Biden's White House, tells PEOPLE that Fox News' website is prime real estate for a campaign ad since the network is hosting Wednesday's debate. And, perhaps more importantly, "it's a surprising place for the president to show up."
"I think it fits both the president's ethos of going everywhere and not writing off any voters," Flaherty says. "It also speaks to the sort of strided, swaggy Dark Brandon personality of, 'Yeah, we're going to go on Fox News and talk about protecting and restoring Roe.'"
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x195:751x197):format(webp)/dark-biden-ad-082223-3-08637656bca94b389b4450601bffb05e.jpg)
BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT
- One ad reads, "Get on board, folks. We're lowering prescription drug costs."
- Another reads, "Social Security cuts? Try me."
- And the final reads, "Tax cuts for yacht owners? Good luck with that, champ."
"These are places where we see an effective contrast between the president and the entirety of the Republican field," Flaherty says of the issues featured in the ads.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1039x394:1041x396):format(webp)/joe-biden-kamala-harris-773d6d1bc6774577852aa22741559322.jpg)
White House officials first embraced Dark Brandon around this time last year, when staffers like Flaherty and deputy press secretary Andrew Bates posted images of the cartoonized president on Twitter, now known as X.
- At the time, Biden was riding an administration high after steering major pieces of legislation through Congress, and his tone toward Republicans was getting feistier.
- A couple of buzzy moments — like when the official White House Twitter account called out GOP lawmakers who opposed student loan forgiveness — fueled the rise of the Dark Brandon meme among Biden-supporting social media users.
"Our supporters started using [Dark Brandon] as a way to talk about how the president was kicking ass," Flaherty tells PEOPLE. "The underlying message is exactly what we want — the implication that Joe Biden is brutally effective at accomplishing things for the American people and getting obstacles out of his way, which is one of the core components of the campaign."
- Dark Brandon has already been fashioned onto Biden 2024 merchandise, and products featuring the design now account for 44% of the campaign store's orders and 54% of its revenue, according to a campaign official.
"Dark Brandon has been a really resonant thing with our grassroots supporters," Flaherty says, noting that it's a "fun" and "joyous" representation of the president's mission.
But as for whether Dark Brandon will make any other surprise appearances before the 2024 election, Flaherty stays mum: "Only Dark Brandon knows where he'll appear."
___________________________________________________________________________________
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Biden’s first 2024 national TV ad will run on Fox before GOP debate
THE SCOOP
The president’s reelection campaign has purchased airtime on Fox News, Semafor has learned, and plans to run its first national television advertisement of the 2024 cycle during the time slot directly before Wednesday’s 9 p.m. ET debate.
- Titled “Fought Back,” the ad highlights Biden’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the passage of infrastructure and semiconductor legislation. Fox prohibited candidates from purchasing ads during the actual debate.
- The campaign bought “Dark Brandon” display ads that ran on Fox News’ website in support of abortion rights on Wednesday.
- The Biden team also plastered ads on billboard screens around Milwaukee noting his positions on abortion, prescription drug costs, taxes, and Social Security.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Understanding President Biden's ironic alter ego 'Dark Brandon'
Is the meme a win for the Democrats — or just the internet having some fun?
You've probably heard of the anti-Biden chant, "Let's Go, Brandon." But have you heard of "Dark Brandon," the liberal counter and presidential meme du jour? If not, here's everything you need to know:
What is 'Dark Brandon'?
In late 2021, a sports commentator erroneously assumed a crowd at a NASCAR event had been cheering "Let's Go, Brandon" — a nod to driver Brandon Brown — when the attendees had actually been cheering "F--k Joe Biden."
- But the innocent mix-up was soon repackaged as an irony-laden rallying call for the right, a dog whistle for the conservative community, and a funny-but-serious way to stick it to Biden without actually sticking it to Biden.
- It even went so far as to spawn "an entire ecosystem of coy bumper stickers and T-shirts," as well as, of course, a deluge of Republican internet content, writes The New York Times.
- The gimmick echoes what is known as the "Dark MAGA" trend, "in which alt-right dead-enders and QAnon veterans" passionately prophesize about the vengeful return of a reinvigorated President Donald Trump.
- Unlike the related MAGA trend, however, "Dark Brandon" was created by people who "don't really care about Joe Biden," Kaitlyn Tiffany writes for The Atlantic — rather, its makers essentially wanted to mock the "Dark MAGA" community while simultaneously leaning into the "despair" they felt about the current state of legislative affairs under Biden.
But a meme was nonetheless born in the process — and what once began as one big joke has since "developed into something that reads as more sincere," Tiffany writes.
Why has "Dark Brandon" gained popularity?
After a beleaguered start, the Biden administration is finally celebrating a number of policy wins — such as the bipartisan gun law, and the Inflation Reduction Act — and it appears White House aides and officials are working to reclaim "Dark Brandon" and "Let's Go, Brandon" as part of the fun. Take White House staffers Andrew Bates and Rob Flaherty, for example, both of whom have shared "Dark Brandon" imagery on Twitter within the past two weeks.
A senior administration official said the White House has opted to embrace "Dark Brandon" and "to make an important point about the president delivering what they referred to as a 'staggering' amount of wins in a short period [of] time," The Hill summarizes.
Does Biden know about it?
Apparently, he does. Per a report from the Times, "[t]he president himself has seen some of the Dark Brandon memes and found them funny, according to several people close to him."
- "During the Obama years, he was portrayed as the bumbling 'Uncle Joe,' always blurting out something off key and obsessing over his aviators and Corvette," notes Politico.
- As president "he's been castigated as elderly and frail and in over his head."
__________________________________________________________________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.webp)
No comments:
Post a Comment