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From Let's Go Brandon to Let's Go Brenda. Trump merch sellers say they'll be just fine after Biden exit

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From Let's Go Brandon to Let's Go Brenda. Trump merch sellers say they'll be just fine after Biden exit

Vincent Scuzzese runs a store in New Jersey named Let’s Go Brandon.

Yes, that Let’s Go Brandon, the pro-Trump mantra gracing Scuzzese’s merchandise — shirts, flags, mugs, makeup compacts and more. There’s a Let’s Go Brandon adult coloring book (subtitle: “The Story of the WORST President in U.S. History”). And for the athletic, a 32-inch Let’s Go Brandon skateboard.

So, what happens now that “Brandon” himself has dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed his second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris?

A rebrand.

Scuzzese’s shelves now offer merch with a new motto: Let’s Go Brenda.

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“My sales are going nuts,” said Scuzzese, 59, who opened his store in a strip mall off Route 37 in Toms River, N.J., two years ago. “Biden dropped out, but Kamala has the same views — even worse views. She’s more socialist.”

After Biden quit the race Sunday, social media quickly filled with jokes about warehouses full of rotting, deeply discounted anti-Biden merch and Let’s Go Brandon flags flying at half-staff. One meme includes an altered photo of a marquee sign for a different Let’s Go Brandon store; the memester added a fake banner for Spirit Halloween, the seasonal retailer that pops up in empty stores.

But the folks selling anti-Biden swag say they will be just fine, thank you very much.

“Dear Liberal Snowflakes, We appreciate your fan emails and phone calls voicing your concerns in regards to our now ‘useless inventory’ since the Sleepy Joe dropout. We understand that liberals don’t have an IQ of even two digits and have no idea how printing businesses work,” the website for the Let’s Go Brandon Online Shop read on Thursday.

Even if Let’s Go Brenda — the female version of Brandon — catches on, the original slogan doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

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The crass catchphrase, which began as a sort-of-but-not-really inside joke among supporters of former President Trump, became so ubiquitous that the Republican National Committee sells its own Brandon-branded beverage koozies, bumper stickers and grilling irons.

“It was a way to signal to other MAGA people that they’re in the club and to signal to the liberals in the community that they’re not welcome,” said Tim Miller, a former RNC spokesman, who left the GOP in 2020 and is now a Trump critic.

“I’m sure there will be plenty of anti-Kamala slogans,” Miller said. But Brandon “might stick around,” he said, like Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan and MAGA acronym, as well as the red hats.

The Let’s Go Brandon jeer came from a viral video of NASCAR driver Brandon Brown being interviewed in October 2021 by an NBC reporter after winning his first Xfinity Series race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

In the crowd, people chanted, “F— Joe Biden!” The reporter, apparently trying to cover up the obscenity, suggested they were yelling, “Let’s go, Brandon!”

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Let’s Go Brandon is an anti-Biden slogan seen on countless flags, shirts and merchandise across the country.

(Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The taunt later inspired pro-Biden memes with a laser-eyed alter ego of the president called Dark Brandon. Although Biden embraced the image and his campaign sold its own Dark Brandon swag, the meme never came close to overtaking Let’s Go Brandon.

Or, for that matter, the vulgar acronym FJB — it means what you think it means — which adorns countless flags and bumper stickers across the country.

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Outside the Thunder-Rode motorcyle accessories shop on Route 66 in Kingman, Ariz., owner Jack Alexander flies a flag with an anti-Biden expletive. He’s got some inside, too. They sell well, he said.

For now, he has no plans to get rid of them. Alexander said it does not make sense “to spend a lot of money” on new merch before the party’s nomination becomes official at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.

“We don’t think Harris is going to make it past the convention,” Alexander said. “We feel there’s going to be a war within the Democratic Party because of the non-election process that put her where she is.”

In New Jersey, Scuzzese said sales at the Let’s Go Brandon store have been through the roof since the failed assassination attempt against Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Penn. That night, Scuzzese said, he was so busy that he kept his store open long past closing time.

“Before he got shot, people were afraid to wear his hat and put his flags on their house,” Scuzzese said. Afterward, “they were coming in and buying hats and saying, ‘I’m not taking this hat off. I’m wearing it proudly. I hid it for long enough.’”

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Scuzzese quickly hawked shirts with the iconic photo of a bloodied Trump raising his fist in front of the American flag. And his Let’s Go Brenda shirts were on the shelves within two days of Biden quitting the race.

Despite Biden’s exit, Scuzzese has no plans, at least for now, to change the name of his business.

And the Let’s Go Brandon phrase itself?

“At least until the election,” Scuzzese said, “it ain’t going nowhere.”

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Trump plans to meet with Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado next week

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Trump plans to meet with Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado next week

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Washington next week.

During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Trump was asked if he intends to meet with Machado after the U.S. struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro.

“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves a national flag during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration, in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

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This will be Trump’s first meeting with Machado, who the U.S. president stated “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead.

According to reports, Trump’s refusal to support Machado was linked to her accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump believed he deserved.

But Trump later told NBC News that while he believed Machado should not have won the award, her acceptance of the prize had “nothing to do with my decision” about the prospect of her leading Venezuela.

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California sues Trump administration over ‘baseless and cruel’ freezing of child-care funds

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California sues Trump administration over ‘baseless and cruel’ freezing of child-care funds

California is suing the Trump administration over its “baseless and cruel” decision to freeze $10 billion in federal funding for child care and family assistance allocated to California and four other Democratic-led states, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced Thursday.

The lawsuit was filed jointly by the five states targeted by the freeze — California, New York, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado — over the Trump administration’s allegations of widespread fraud within their welfare systems. California alone is facing a loss of about $5 billion in funding, including $1.4 billion for child-care programs.

The lawsuit alleges that the freeze is based on unfounded claims of fraud and infringes on Congress’ spending power as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This is just the latest example of Trump’s willingness to throw vulnerable children, vulnerable families and seniors under the bus if he thinks it will advance his vendetta against California and Democratic-led states,” Bonta said at a Thursday evening news conference.

The $10-billion funding freeze follows the administration’s decision to freeze $185 million in child-care funds to Minnesota, where federal officials allege that as much as half of the roughly $18 billion paid to 14 state-run programs since 2018 may have been fraudulent. Amid the fallout, Gov. Tim Walz has ordered a third-party audit and announced that he will not seek a third term.

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Bonta said that letters sent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announcing the freeze Tuesday provided no evidence to back up claims of widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in California. The freeze applies to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Social Services Block Grant program and the Child Care and Development Fund.

“This is funding that California parents count on to get the safe and reliable child care they need so that they can go to work and provide for their families,” he said. “It’s funding that helps families on the brink of homelessness keep roofs over their heads.”

Bonta also raised concerns regarding Health and Human Services’ request that California turn over all documents associated with the state’s implementation of the three programs. This requires the state to share personally identifiable information about program participants, a move Bonta called “deeply concerning and also deeply questionable.”

“The administration doesn’t have the authority to override the established, lawful process our states have already gone through to submit plans and receive approval for these funds,” Bonta said. “It doesn’t have the authority to override the U.S. Constitution and trample Congress’ power of the purse.”

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan and marked the 53rd suit California had filed against the Trump administration since the president’s inauguration last January. It asks the court to block the funding freeze and the administration’s sweeping demands for documents and data.

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Video: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela

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Video: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela

new video loaded: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela

transcript

transcript

Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela

President Trump did not say exactly how long the the United states would control Venezuela, but said that it could last years.

“How Long do you think you’ll be running Venezuela?” “Only time will tell. Like three months. six months, a year, longer?” “I would say much longer than that.” “Much longer, and, and —” “We have to rebuild. You have to rebuild the country, and we will rebuild it in a very profitable way. We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need. I would love to go, yeah. I think at some point, it will be safe.” “What would trigger a decision to send ground troops into Venezuela?” “I wouldn’t want to tell you that because I can’t, I can’t give up information like that to a reporter. As good as you may be, I just can’t talk about that.” “Would you do it if you couldn’t get at the oil? Would you do it —” “If they’re treating us with great respect. As you know, we’re getting along very well with the administration that is there right now.” “Have you spoken to Delcy Rodríguez?” “I don’t want to comment on that, but Marco speaks to her all the time.”

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President Trump did not say exactly how long the the United states would control Venezuela, but said that it could last years.

January 8, 2026

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