Last week, John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, hosted an event called “ReAwaken America,” led by Thrivetime Show podcast host Clay Clark. The event is largely a Who’s Who of far right-connected conspiracy theorists like Roger Stone, Mike Lindell, Lin Wood and Greg Locke who use the platform to espouse their fringe beliefs about the 2020 election, COVID-19 vaccines and other unsubstantiated claims.
That’s par the course in certain political circles these days, but one viral video from the event raised eyebrows: an entire crowd of attendees chanting “Let’s Go, Brandon” from the church pews. Video showed the chant was led by someone from the stage.
“Let’s Go, Brandon” has become a popular political phrase — a troll-y replacement for “f*** Joe Biden” — and is now common in Republican political rallies across the country.
The Q-Anon crowd is at televangelist John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.
They are chanting, “Let’s Go Brandon” from the church pews. pic.twitter.com/pGqUmUXezn
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) November 14, 2021
That wasn’t the only uncomfortable moment at the ReAwaken America event. On November 13, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser-turned-QAnon hero Michael Flynn espoused his belief that the United States should only have one religion. “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God and one religion under God,” Flynn said.
Saw a short clip floating around of Michael Flynn calling for “one religion” in America.
I took a moment to dig to make sure the broader context was, in fact, Christian nationalist in nature.
Answer: Yup, and it arguably gets *even more so* the longer you watch. pic.twitter.com/MmAvMutI7K
— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) November 14, 2021
The origins of “Let’s go, Brandon” stem from a NASCAR race earlier this fall, when flustered NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast gamely suggested that the crowd at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama was cheering “Let’s go Brandon!” in support of driver Brandon Brown instead of “F*** Joe Biden.” The phrase spread among conservative Biden critics as a knowing, faux-polite way to cuss Biden out, and can be heard at sporting events, concerts and, apparently, churches across the country.
