NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian drew fire from conservative critics when he highlighted the fact that he called the Secret Service for comment about firearms bearing messages evocative of the chant “Fuck Joe Biden!”
On Monday, Dilanian published a report headlined “Gun dealers sell parts, ammo using anti-Biden meme ‘Let’s go, Brandon'”.
Dilanian offers an incomplete explanation of the phrase, correctly recounting that when some NASCAR fans at Talladega chanted “Fuck Joe Biden” as race winner Brandon Brown gave a post-race interview, the reporter mistook the chant as a show of support for Brown.
And the moment has made “Let’s go Brandon!” a stand-in for the more profane version with opponents of President Joe Biden. But there’s an added dimension. Some conservatives believe that the reporter’s mistake was actually a deliberate and instantaneously-devised effort to cover up what the crowd was really chanting, and use it as a double-edged critique of Biden and the media.
In that context, Dilanian reported on several retailers who are
Gun dealers are marketing weapon parts and ammunition using a right-wing slogan widely understood as code for profanity directed at President Joe Biden.Palmetto State Armory, which operates a 12,000-square-foot gun store in Columbia, S.C., the state capital, is marketing a “LETSGO-15 Stripped Lower Receiver,” which is a part meant for an AR-15-style assault rifle.The product description on the company’s website says the fire selector on the weapon part features three modes: “’F@CK!’” (Safe), “’JOE!’” (Fire), “’BIDEN!’” (Full-Auto).”
The report also notes that at least two other dealers, Culper Precision and My Southern Tactical, are marketing parts using the phrase.
Dilanian noted that “A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, which investigates threats against the president, declined to comment.”
He then highlighted that fact on Twitter, writing “I called the Secret Service about this. They had no comment.”
And in response to a critic who asked “You called the Secret Service about a ‘meme’?”, Dilanian clarified “I called to ask the Secret Service whether they consider ‘F—Joe Biden’ emblazoned on an assault rifle to represent a security threat to the president,” and added “Which I think is a reasonable question.”
Among verified users, the reaction was overwhelmingly mockery from conservatives.
One of the few blue-check reactions that weren’t
One conservative critic, NRO’s Alexandra DeSanctis Marr, inadvertently pointed out an incident that drew concern similar to Dilanian’s when Donald Trump was president, writing “But this is art” above a photo of comedian Kathy Griffin’s infamous bloody Trump mask photo:
That incident caused outrage that lasted years, and was even used in Republican campaign ads. The Secret Service investigated Griffin over that photo.
And several years ago, Sarah Palin faced outrage after then-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was severely wounded in a mass shooting months after she had called Palin out by name for placing crosshairs on Giffords’ district in a political ad.