Dark Brandon meme example depicting president Joe Biden with lasers shooting from his eyes at planet earth.

Who And What Is 'Dark Brandon,' And What Does It Mean? The Alternate-Reality Joe Biden Meme Trend Explained

Gas prices: down. The votes of Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema: secured. al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri: dead.

Who did these things? If you ask parts of the internet, the man responsible for these developments is none other than the mysterious "Dark Brandon."

IT'S OVER JACK


But how did this meme trend, depicting President Joe Biden as an omnipotent, monster-like hero capable of great violence and force, even come about? Further, how did it come to sincerely represent an appreciation for Dark Brandon and his administration?

Be advised: You are about to enter a “no malarkey” zone.

Your malarkey has been going on for long enough, kiddo.


Where Did "Dark Brandon" Come From?

Dark Brandon began as a combination of two separate meme trends, both originating among supporters of former President Donald Trump. Let's break down these two specific precursors.

Let's Go Brandon originated in October 2021 on Twitter after a crowd chanting “F--- Joe Biden” was purportedly misheard by an NBC reporter as “Let’s Go Brandon.” Clips of the chant went viral among conservatives and the internet at large, representing (in their view) the "out-of-touchness" of the mainstream media and its bias in favor of Biden.

It then became an ironic chant and slogan that Republicans as high up as Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, repeated, with many calling the President “Brandon” instead of his real name.

Dark MAGA originated in the spring of 2022 on Twitter, shared widely by various posters into the summer months. The memes imagined a more “unhinged” version of Trump seizing power in 2024 and used deep-fried colors, glowing laser eyes and edgy or violent imagery to depict a darker, more powerful version of the former President.

#DARKMAGA imgflip.com


How Did Dark Brandon Emerge?

Dark Brandon combines the Brandon nickname assigned to Biden with the aesthetics of Dark MAGA content. The first instance of the phrase “Dark Brandon” on social media is from a tweet riffing on the titles of Batman movies, but the meme attained its first flush of notoriety when posters started making jokes in early summer 2022 using “Dark Brandon” and Dark MAGA imagery of Joe Biden ironically. Often, these posts mocked and criticized Biden for not showing the strength depicted in the memes.

femboy never broke again @tedcruzcontrol insanely good new Dark Brandon pic just dropped SHINZO ABE NEUTRALIZED GAS PRICES NEUTRALIZED COVID-19 NEUTRALIZED ANTIFA ROE V WADE 2 GLOBO HO COMM MAND FULLY ARMED COMING SOON G SOON SOON SOON


Online right-wing and pro-fascist aesthetics were other targets of the satire, as shown in this Dark Brandon parody seen below. Early postings of Dark Brandon mocked the violent aesthetics and obsessively niche memes of the alt-right in order to combat them.

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When Did Dark Brandon Become Unironic?

Following the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by an American drone and a series of successes for the Biden administration in late July (including the finalization of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and drops in unemployment and gas prices), liberal supporters of the President began using the meme unironically to signal their approval of his decisions and actions.

Oliver Willis @owillis Follow "Bring me the jobs. Lower the gas prices. And get Sinema onboard." "Yes, Lord Dark Brandon, right away my liege" 8:40 AM - Aug 5, 2022 6.5K Reply Share


Around this same timeframe is when the proverbial tides began to change around the meme being used in an exclusively ironic sense, with some declaring it dead (though this was far from the truth, depending on your outlook).

VO @vanillaopinions dark brandon has been coopted by the libs it's over 5:45 PM - Aug 1, 2022 · Twitter for Android 61 Retweets 23 Quote Tweets 2,897 Likes : ...


How Do People Use Dark Brandon?

The core components of a Dark Brandon meme are the dark tones, deep-fried style and laser eyes. Often, they are paired with descriptions of feats accomplished by "Dark Brandon." As the meme has increasingly turned into a sincere appreciation of Biden, it's also trended towards pointing out the flaws of his predecessor.

Dark Brandon is arguably one of the more unique products of our current media ecosystem, where irony can turn to sincerity in an instant, and memes work their way through and between wildly opposed political movements.

gaba ghoul @LL_CoolBeans - Jul 26 Dark Brandon ripping the Choco Taco out of the heavens to bring it back to life 9 64 604 GETS COVID CAN'T BREATHE GETS COVID KILLS TOP AL-QAEDA LEADER


How Has Joe Biden And His Campaign Used Dark Brandon?

The Biden campaign has more than embraced the meme, turning the laser-eyed version of the President into its profile picture on several social media accounts. In April 2023, Biden started selling merchandise themed and darkly branded with Dark Brandon.

A particularly viral video featured him sipping from a color-changing mug which, when hot liquid got poured into it, "Brandonified" a peaceful, smiling picture of Biden by adding red laser eyes.


Biden also joked about the meme both in official social media posting and at official events, such as the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

It seems that Dark Brandon is here to stay and the meme has fully become a part of how the candidate intends on selling himself for reelection in 2024.

What Does 'Dark Brandon' Mean?

Americans have always parodied and posted about their Presidents, so in a sense, Dark Brandon is nothing new. However, the lore surrounding the character calls to mind characters like Quandale Dingle and Harambe as much as it does the actual living person named Joseph Robinette Biden.

Dark Brandon is a version of Joe Biden that does not exist except in the imaginations of people online. He may not even be human depending on your interpretation, as the laser eyes suggest some possible cyborg influence. The posting is about maximalism, getting darker and more vivid.

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Usage In 2024 Presidential Election And Super Bowl Post

Almost immediately after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, a social media staffer on President Biden's Twitter / X account posted a Dark Brandon tweet reading, "Just like we drew it up," reigniting interest in the meme.

The tweet riffed on the average NFL fan's favorite conspiracy theory that the NFL and Super Bowl are scripted, which suggests that the whole league is predetermined to make the most money for the higher-ups in charge.

Mowgli @fbgwayno nah purdy was really up against the government im sick Joe Biden @Joe Biden 11h Just like we drew it up. ALT Follow 10:59 PM. Feb 11, 2024 593.3K Views


This post was widely covered by the mainstream media in the following days, giving much attention to Biden and his campaign, as well as sparking widespread discussion across the web.

Dark Brandon is also, with the campaign's adoption of it as an official meme of the 2024 presidential race, a concerted attempt to court young voters.

By embracing a meme, Biden and the Democrats are trying to meet Gen Z and Millennials in the place where many of them make up their minds about politics or get information that could impact voting decisions: social media platforms.

But Dark Brandon is also more than just a way for Biden to say, How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? The meme is a parody of the conspiracy theory and schizoposting content that defines certain segments of Biden's political rivals. It's a way to argue against that content and address it, to laugh at people who think Biden was in cahoots with Taylor Swift and Roger Goodell to rig the Super Bowl.

In the end, the only conspiracy Dark Brandon is proven to be involved with is one to sell a lot of mugs and T-shirts and generate donations for the Biden Presidential campaign — but it's certainly an interesting evolution in the crossover of memes into politics that's been increasingly prominent over the last 10 years.

Dan Rather @DanRather In 50 years, a grandparent will try to explain "Dark Brandon" to a grandchild who will find the the entire process by which we got to this moment utterly incomprehensible. 5:23 PM Apr 30, 2023 155.2K Views . 821 Retweets 44 Quotes 7,649 Likes 18 Bookmarks



To learn more about Dark Brandon and the forces he is unleashing upon the world, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.



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