Brandon Brown celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race Oct. 2.AP Photo/John Amis
NASCAR rejected LGBcoin’s sponsorship of driver Brandon Brown, the Washington Post reported. The coin is based on the anti-Biden phrase “let’s go Brandon,” which serves as a stand-in for a vulgar insult. Brown had announced the sponsorship on Twitter last month. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell. NASCAR has rejected a crypto sponsorship from a coin based on a viral chant against President Joe Biden, according to a report from the Washington Post, which cited a NASCAR person familiar with the matter.
The LGBcoin planned to sponsor driver Brandon Brown in the new year. The cryptocurrency, which is worth a fraction of a penny, stems from the “let’s go Brandon” chant that has become a popular replacement among conservatives for “F— Joe Biden.”
Brown announced the sponsorship on Twitter last month, accompanied by a photo of a red, white, and blue Chevrolet Camaro emblazoned with an ad for the cryptocurrency.
But according to the Post’s reporting, the announcement was premature, as the NASCAR employee who initially signed off on the deal was not authorized to do so. On Tuesday, executives rejected the proposal, the Post said.
Representatives for NASCAR and Brandonbilt Motorsports did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The rallying cry, and subsequently the coin, began in October after Brown won the Xfinity Series. In an interview afterward, a crowd began changing the anti-Biden phrase, and a reporter suggested they were actually chanting “let’s go Brandon.”
The phrase became an instant meme that Brown had admitted to The New York Times he was uncomfortable with because he had no desire to participate in politics and because he didn’t want to hurt his chances at a sponsorship — which LGBcoin fixed initially.
The official with knowledge of NASCAR’s deliberations said the organization made clear in November that sponsorships based on the phrase would not be permitted.
The “let’s go Brandon” phrase has been seen and heard at sports arenas and even in Congress, Insider reported previously. Since its inception, the LGBcoin, which calls itself “America’s Coin,” has rallied 148%, according to data from Coinbase.