A protestor holds a ‘Let’s Go Brandon!’ sign at a rally in Los Angeles in November 2021.
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A vendor at a US military base sold foot-tall wooden bears shaped like former president Donald Trump that featured the anti-Biden phrase “Let’s Go Brandon,” the Anchorage Daily News reported on Tuesday.
An independent vendor had set up at a mall at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, to sell the items, the report said.
The foot-tall bears had yellow hair and red ties and held signs with the anti-Biden remark, the report said.
“Let’s Go Brandon,” a reference to a misheard post-NASCAR race interview in early October, is a tongue-in-cheek euphemism for “Fuck Joe Biden” that has been embraced by conservatives, Insider’s Jake Lahut previously reported.
The vendor — who had a short-term contract with the commercial facility on the base — closed up shop before the base could investigate, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
A spokesperson for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, which oversees goods sold at US bases, told the Daily News that the figurines were no longer being sold and that this was an “isolated incident.”
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
The Washington Post via Getty
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the Department of Defense and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
According to the Department of Defense’s 2020 guidance on political activity, active duty personnel “may not engage in partisan political activities.”
However, active-duty members may “express their personal opinions on political candidates and issues, make monetary contributions to a political campaign or organization, and attend political events” when not in uniform.
