A sports reporter made a smooth save on Saturday when a profane chant broke out after Brandon Brown received his first Nascar Xfinity Series race victory at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway.
Following the race, NBC’s Kelli Stavast interviewed Brown, who told the reporter it was “everything [he’d] hoped and dreamed for.”
“Everything I’ve ever wanted to do is take the trophy home to mom and dad”, he added before thanking his sponsors and supporters. Nascar officials declared Brown as the winner after he defeated Brandon Jones in the last scoring loop.
The reporter’s attention soon turned to the Republican-heavy crowd who started chanting in unison, “F**k Joe Biden.”
Stavast acknowledged the cheers and claimed them to be “Let’s go, Brandon.”
“As you can hear the chants from the crowd — ‘Let’s go, Brandon,’” she said and proceeded to ask Brown about his winning strategy.
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The interview soon surfaced on social media with questions about whether NBC reporter was blissfully unaware of what the real meaning or if she managed to secure a save live on air.
Fellow sports commentator, Clay Travis, took to social media to ask, “Is she really not aware what they’re chanting?”
Donald Trump Jr. also intervened and tweeted: “I’m pretty sure they’re not chanting ‘Let’s go Brandon’”.
“Yes, the reporter is trying to deflect with Let’s Go Brandon when it’s really F**k Joe Biden”, another tweeted, while another mocked Stavast and said: “‘Let’s go Brandon‘ sounds EXACTLY like ‘F**K JOE BIDEN‘ so I can see how the newscaster didn’t hear it correctly.”
Nascar originally posted a video of the interview on Twitter but soon deleted the clip.
According to Newsweek, chanting on-air is becoming a common theme in the sporting world after the exact phrase was shouted at four different football games across Southern states last month.