Southwest Pilot Sends AP Reporter into Absolute Panic After Signing Off with 'Let's Go Brandon!'

The new anti-Biden slogan of "Let's Go Brandon!" has truly taken the country by storm, as a more polite way of saying "F*ck Joe Biden!" 

A Southwest pilot recently signed off using the phrase, as Colleen Long reported for the Associated Press.

On Friday morning on a Southwest flight from Houston to Albuquerque, the pilot signed off his greeting over the public address system with the phrase, to audible gasps from some passengers. Southwest said in a statement that the airline “takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment” and that “behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive is not condoned.”

Veteran GOP ad maker Jim Innocenzi had no qualms about the coded crudity, calling it “hilarious.”

“Unless you are living in a cave, you know what it means,” he said. “But it’s done with a little bit of a class. And if you object and are taking it too seriously, go away.”

Long also tweeted about the incident, acknowledging that she "was asking them to open [a] locked cock pit [for comment] and probably sounded insane!"

Also in defense of airline I was asking them to open locked cock pit and probably sounded insane!

— Colleen Long (@ctlong1) October 30, 2021

A portion of the U.S. was already angry well before the Brandon moment. …. But anger has now moved beyond die-hard Trump supporters, said Stanley Renshon, a political scientist and psychoanalyst at the City University of New York.

— Colleen Long (@ctlong1) October 30, 2021

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Long was especially mocked on Twitter for acknowledging such a move "probably sounded insane."

Honest question. If you were a Middle Eastern man instead of a white woman media activist, would this incident have ended differently?

— Christina Pushaw ?? (@ChristinaPushaw) October 30, 2021

That’s a federal offense princess.

— Silence and Frost (@secjr112) October 30, 2021

Trying to get the cockpit door open they shouldn't have tried to remove you, they should have just removed you . No Try about it.

— C.Bair (@CandiBair1) October 30, 2021

Very curious if @AP condones it’s employees trying force their way into the cockpit of a passenger plane.

— hynterd (@HdavisHunter) October 30, 2021

“I too like to violate federal law over inane comments” Said no sane person ever.

— Peter Pilot?? #Flyingwithamaskon (@guardpilot) October 30, 2021

"...probably sounded insane..."

You mean like right now?

Yep.

— J.G. Petruna (@jgpetruna) October 30, 2021

If not for detailing the specific incident, Long's piece would have sounded strikingly similar to a lamentation earlier this month from The Washington Post, the subject of a VIP piece of mine. 

As Katie also covered, it even resulted in the "greatest correction in history" to do with Donald Trump Jr.

"Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly said a crowd broke into a 'Let's go Brandon' chant during a Donald Trump Jr. speech in Georgia. The crowd broke into a 'F--- Joe Biden!' chant at that speech in September. The error, which was inserted by an editor, has been corrected," the paper stated in an updated version.

Some people are calling for the pilot to be fired as a result or for there to be an investigation. CNN Analyst Juliette Kayyem is especially doubling down on the latter.

If @SouthwestAir doesn’t take action they’re basically endorsing this behavior by their pilot https://t.co/nmr3nqaV4f

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 30, 2021

Let those tears flow…. https://t.co/AisenEb9Me

— Matt Vespa (@mVespa1) October 31, 2021

Dear @SouthwestAir, as an A-List Preferred flyer, I find this completely unacceptable. This pilot should be terminated immediately. This reflects poorly on Southwest Airlines. https://t.co/GmvhdKAHij

— Vaxxed & Masked (@MELLAMB66) October 30, 2021

There's no way this pilot should ever fly again.

— Lonestar (@Brelwi1) October 30, 2021

Unlike some of you, I’m not saying he should fired. Only that there should be investigation. For all we know he was making fun of it. Either way — bad joke or asshole — it cannot go unaddressed lest it opens up other pilots to harangue passengers.

— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) October 30, 2021

If you actually believe this, you have credibility issues.

— Ari Cohn (@AriCohn) October 30, 2021

From a pilot. His opinion. Not mine. But we both like rules. @SouthwestAir @FAANews pic.twitter.com/2fbzJCsvdM

— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) October 30, 2021

In addition to "Southwest" trending on Twitter for Saturday, "#LetsGoBrandon Day" did as well.