Biden's campaign is plastering 'Dark Brandon' ads across Fox News' website and the city of Milwaukee on the day of the first GOP presidential debate

• Joe Biden's campaign plastered "Dark Brandon" memes across Fox News' website and Milwaukee.

• The ads went up Wednesday, the day of the first GOP presidential debate.

• In 2022, Insider reported that Capitol Hill Democrats were embracing the "Dark Brandon" meme.

The day of the first 2024 GOP presidential debate, President Joe Biden's campaign plastered the "Dark Brandon" meme on Fox News' website and on billboards across Milwaukee, the city hosting the debate.

First reported by People, Biden's campaign told the publication it would be hosting a pro-abortion-rights campaign message with the president's face on Fox News' website (which is hosting a livestream of the debate) until just before midnight Wednesday.

This isn't the first time Biden has embraced the "Dark Brandon" meme — a combination of the anti-Biden "Let's Go Brandon" slogan and the popular "Dark MAGA" movement. In late 2022, members of his administration shared the meme several times across social media, with one saying, "Dark Brandon is crushing it."

Firmly sitting in the lead in GOP primary polling, former President Donald Trump recently confirmed he wouldn't attend the debate Wednesday. Instead, he's set to appear in a prerecorded interview airing at the same time with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

While Trump won't be in Milwaukee, the Republican National Committee invited eight other GOP candidates to the debate who met its polling and donor requirements: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, the businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Nikki Haley of South Carolina.

Though Burgum loaned his campaign nearly $10 million to qualify for the debate stage, CNN reported on Wednesday that he might not be able to make it after suffering a last-minute injury while playing pickup basketball.

Correction: August 24, 2023 — An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Asa Hutchinson's title. He's a former Arkansas governor, not the current one.

Read the original article on Business Insider