Arizona GOP Senate candidate invokes ‘Let’s go, Brandon’ in new campaign ad

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Jim Lamon invoked the anti-Biden phrase “Let’s go, Brandon” in a campaign ad released on Monday. 

The ad, which kicks off a six-figure ad campaign throughout Arizona, will air tonight during the College Football Playoff championship game.

The Hill was the first outlet to view the ad, which is the first national campaign spot to invoke the slogan. 

“Let’s take the fight to Joe Biden and show him we the people put America first,” Lamon says in the ad. “The time is now. Let’s go, Brandon. Are you with me?” 

Lamon is a part of a crowded Republican field to challenge Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) in the state’s Senate race in November. It is set to be one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rating it as a “toss-up.” 

The Republican candidate is a staunch supporter of former President Trump, backing a number of lawsuits challenging the 2020 presidential election results. Last week, Lamon called for the Jan. 6 House select committee to be shut down in an op-ed.

The controversial phrase first became popular with President Biden’s critics in October at a NASCAR event. 

During an interview after the event, an NBC Sports reporter mistakenly said the crowd was chanting, “Let’s go, Brandon” in support of NASCAR driver Brandon Brown when the crowd was actually chanting, “F— Joe Biden.”

The phrase appears to have stuck with various conservative and Republican groups. Vermont’s Republican Party held a “Let’s go, Brandon” rally in the city of Brandon, while the Trump campaign sent out an email in October selling T-shirts featuring the phrase to supporters who donated a minimum of $45. 

However, “Let’s go, Brandon” got the most national attention on Christmas Eve when a man called in to the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s annual holiday Santa tracking program and said, “Let’s go, Brandon” at the end of his call with the president.