A ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ store opened up in Massachusetts

Fortune· Al Drago—Bloomberg via Getty Images

In 2020, Joe Biden handily beat Donald Trump in Massachusetts, easily defeating him in a majority of counties. It looks as if in at least one place, though, the sentiment could be changing.

A “Let’s Go Brandon” store, selling shirts, hats, and signs emblazoned with the phrase, has opened up in the city of North Attleborough, which is located along the state’s western border with Rhode Island, about 15 minutes north of Pawtucket.

The phrase has increasingly been used by Republicans and Trump supporters to criticize Biden’s performance. It was born on Oct. 2, when Brandon Brown won his first race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. As he was interviewed on NBC, the crowd behind him began chanting, “[Expletive] Joe Biden,” but the on-air reporter told viewers they were chanting, “Let’s Go Brandon.”

And in a meme-centric world, the phrase took off faster than Bitcoin.

While certainly divisive, the phrase has been used in more and more places in the past two and a half months. In November, a Southwest Airlines pilot was investigated after signing off from the flight by using the expression on the overhead speaker. And a Minnesota bakery garnered national attention last month when it began offering “Let’s Go Brandon” cookies.

Biden won the 2020 election in North Attleborough by a 57% to 41% vote, with a margin of nearly 2,700 votes. His honeymoon with voters is over, though, and by late November, his aggregate national approval rating stood at just 42.9%. Only Donald Trump had a worse approval rating (38.4%) at this point in his presidency among post–World War II presidents.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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