AUSTIN, Texas — On Friday morning, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shared a clip on Twitter from a recent interview he did with Breitbart, a controversial conservative news organization. In the tweet, the governor included the phrase, "Let's Go Brandon!"
The phrase has recently become popular with conservatives. Business Insider reports that the phenomenon began earlier this month when NASCAR driver Brandon Brown won his first race in the league's Xfinity series at Talladega Superspeedway. As Brown was being interviewed by an NBC Sports reporter, the crowd began to chant "F--- Joe Biden." The reporter attempted a segue, referencing a less audible chant: "Let's go, Brandon."
Since the interview, Business Insider reports, conservatives – from Ben Shapiro and Donald Trump Jr. to social media commenters – have latched onto the phrase.
In his interview with Breitbart, which was conducted at the University of Texas at Austin's Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Gov. Abbott addressed the "Let's Go, Brandon" movement, saying that it is happening because of "the disastrous policies" implemented by the president.
"People who come to these stadiums, who want to gather and celebrate a great American tradition like college football, and you have Joe Biden trying to shut things down and shut people out and you got [Anthony] Fauci saying you got to stay home until Christmas or whenever – and it’s just ludicrous the policies that Joe Biden is advancing," Abbott told Breitbart.
Prior to the governor's tweet on Friday, the interview itself – which focused largely on Abbott's recent executive order banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates – had already raised a few eyebrows. In particular, the interview's setting has been called into question.
According to Breitbart, the interview was filmed before the Texas vs. Oklahoma State football game on Oct. 16. On social media, some have asked why the governor was allowed to film an interview about vaccine mandates on DKR's 50-yard line. UT does not have a vaccine mandate, in keeping with Abbott's order.
Twitter user @CharlieKBonner said, "Never been more embarrassed to be a Longhorn,,, and that's saying something." Several other users have tagged UT President Jay Hartzell and Athletic Director Chris Del Conte in their posts, asking if they gave permission for the interview to happen on campus.
Political action committee The Lincoln Project also called out UT for appearing to go against its own policy against political appeals involving the university. The PAC pointed to one of its own ads criticizing Abbott that was scheduled to air during UT's September football game against Rice University. The ad was reportedly pulled from airing on Longhorn Network due to its political nature.
"Yet they allowed @BreitbartNews to host an exclusive interview with Abbott in their stadium," The Lincoln Project tweeted. "Hypocrisy or political influence?"
KVUE has reached out to UT about the approval process for the governor's interview with Breitbart. We have also reached out to the governor's office asking why DKR was chosen as the location for the interview.
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