WASHINGTON (AP) — Southwest Airlines said Sunday it is conducting an internal investigation after one of its pilots used a phrase that's become a stand-in for insulting President Joe Biden during the pilot's greeting to passengers over the plane's public address system last week.
The airline announced its investigation after The Associated Press reported the incident in a story about the growing use of the phrase "Let's go, Brandon," an aphorism in conservative circles for a vulgarity targeting Biden.
The pilot's use of the phrase drew audible gasps from some passengers on the flight from Houston to Albuquerque on Friday. An AP reporter was on the flight.
The airline said in a statement it would "address the situation directly with any Employee involved while continuing to remind all Employees that public expression of personal opinions while on duty is unacceptable."
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"Southwest does not condone Employees sharing their personal political opinions while on the job serving our Customers, and one Employee's individual perspective should not be interpreted as the viewpoint of Southwest and its collective 54,000 Employees," the statement said.
The phrase took off after an Oct. 2 incident at a NASCAR race in Alabama won by Brandon Brown, a 28-year-old driver who was being interviewed by an NBC Sports reporter.
The crowd behind Brown was chanting something, and the reporter suggested they were saying "Let's go, Brandon" to cheer the driver. But it became increasingly clear to viewers that they were saying, "F—- Joe Biden."
Some conservatives have pointed to the episode as an example of U.S. media covering for Biden. Since then, the phrase has been uttered on the House floor by a Republican lawmaker and used frequently by Biden critics on social media and at protests to slam the Democratic president.
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The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2022
1. Pennsylvania
2. Georgia
3. Wisconsin
4. Arizona
5. North Carolina
6. New Hampshire
7. Nevada
8. Florida
9. Ohio
10. Missouri
Interactive: 10 Senate seats most likely to flip
An analysis: The 10 seats most likely to flip
After a rough month for President Joe Biden, Republicans think they have more than historical precedent on their side to retake the Senate in 2022.
Traditionally, the party out of the White House does better in the midterms. But the surging Delta variant, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and intra-party fissures on Capitol Hill have all threatened Biden's agenda -- and his ability to communicate it throughout the summer -- giving Republicans more to work with as they try to retake the Senate.
Biden's approval rating stood at 52% in a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with 69% of Americans saying things are going badly in this country. Sixty-two percent of Americans said that economic conditions in the US are poor -- up from 45% in April. That's bad news for Democrats, who only enjoy a majority because Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking vote in the chamber.
But it's far too early to assume that the national mood heading into the fall will look anything like the political climate of November 2022.
And the worsening atmosphere for Biden hasn't yet altered which Senate races are most competitive. Pennsylvania, where GOP Sen. Pat Toomey is retiring, is still the seat most likely to flip partisan control -- for the sixth month of CNN's Senate race ranking. The top 10 Senate seats most likely to flip are based on CNN's reporting and fundraising data, as well as historical data about how states and candidates have performed. As the cycle heats up, more polling and advertising spending data will become factors.
Despite the roadblocks on Capitol Hill -- many from within their own party, as moderates and progressives in both chambers squabble over timing, scope and size of legislation -- Democrats are hoping to have significant accomplishments to tout by this time next year. The Senate has already passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, while a much more expansive economic package, if passed, would enact much of Biden's economic agenda. Republicans see a massive spending bill they can attack Democrats over, but Democrats are hoping it'll give them tangible kitchen table benefits to talk about, like lower prescription drug costs and paid family leave.
Republicans have also given Democrats some ammunition to fire up their base in an off-year election where turnout, on both sides, is an open question without former President Donald Trump on the ballot. Texas' six-week abortion ban has reinjected reproductive rights and the Supreme Court into the national conversation. Nationally, public opinion is firmly on the side of abortion rights -- fewer than one-third of Americans want to see the Roe v. Wade decision overturned, according to a set of three polls released over the past week. It depends what state they're running in, but Democrats may look to use this issue to paint their GOP opponents as out of touch, especially in places like Nevada and New Hampshire.
The map of competitive Senate races doesn't look anything like California, which Biden carried by nearly 30 points last year, but Democrats have been heartened to see that running on Covid restrictions can be an effective message after this month's GOP-driven recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom failed. About 48% -- a plurality in the California exit poll -- said that the Democratic governor's coronavirus policies were "about right." Another 18% said they were "not strict enough." Nationally, support for vaccine mandates has grown, with more than half of Americans supporting them for the workplace, in-person classes and concerts and sporting events, according to CNN's recent poll.
One reason, Democratic and Republican strategists agreed, that Newsom was able to capitalize on that message is he had a foil in Republican Larry Elder and was able to credibly tie him to Trump. And while that may have worked uniquely well in California, Trump -- even without a social media presence -- is still leaving his footprint on primaries as he hand-picks some candidates and torches others.
The former President, who had already endorsed in North Carolina earlier this summer, made endorsements in open GOP primaries in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada over the past month, while Republicans in Ohio, Arizona and Missouri are still duking it out over fealty to him.
It remains to be seen, however, just how much those endorsements matter.
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