Canadian government confirms that memo banning anti-Biden phrase ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ is fake

An alleged leaked memo from the Canadian government issuing a ban against the anti-Biden phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” has been confirmed as fake.

On Sunday, a tweet claimed to show a document from Shared Services Canada, the federal agency for the Canadian government’s tech support, sent on 14th October that stated that government employees were prohibited from the slogan which has become popular amongst Donald Trump supporters.

The ‘memo’ reads as: “The uses of colloquialism or sayings with intended double meaning or offense are strictly prohibited in all means of correspondence or communication … specifically, the use of the wording ‘let’s go Brandon’ and any variation thereof.”

The letter, which has had the name of the sender and the recipient blocked out, adds that anyone failing to comply with this rule will be met with “immediate dismissal without recourse or labour union representation.”

Despite the above tweet being shared thousands of times on social media and reported on by numerous Conservative websites in North America, Shared Services Canada has confirmed, in a statement given to the National Post, that the memo is fake.

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A spokesperson said: “We can confirm this message was not issued by Shared Services Canada and it does not reflect departmental policy.”

According to the National Post, the image of the memo appears to have come from a Twitter account with less than 200 followers, who claimed that had been sent to them by a friend in Canada and had asked conservative commentator Jack Posobiec and Benny Johnson to share.

As the Post’s report notes, there are several irregularities with the memo which would suggest that it is not real. Firstly memos in that department, which is largely focused on digital issues, would rarely send such a statement on paper, especially when many employees are still working from home because of the pandemic.

The memo also makes reference to the public service union, an institution that has rallied against the punishment or dismissal of civil servants who have refused the Covid vaccine, making it unlikely that they would support someone getting fired for using a banned phrase.

The ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ meme has gained popularity in recent weeks after Trump supporters adopted it as an ironic way of mocking Joe Biden. The phrase first emerged a few weeks ago at a NASCAR event in Alabama where the crowd were chanting “F**k Joe Biden” however, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast claimed that they were shouting “Let’s go Brandon” in honour of the race’s winner Brandon Brown.