A CNN national security analyst and former FBI agent received heavy backlash after she compared a pilot's anti-Joe Biden remarks before takeoff to an extremist declaring ‘Long live ISIS’.
After an unnamed Southwest Airlines pilot allegedly said ‘Let's go Brandon’ – a recent conservative meme that has become code for ‘F**k Joe Biden’ – while signing off of a Friday flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, CNN national security analyst Asha Rangappa compared the incident to an Islamic extremist making a statement in support of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
“As an experiment, I'd love for an @SouthwestAir pilot to say ‘Long live ISIS’ before taking off. My guess is that 1) the plane would be immediately grounded; 2) the pilot fired; and 3) a statement issued by the airline within a matter of hours,” Rangappa tweeted, garnering heavy criticism on social media, including from journalist Glenn Greenwald who called it illustrative of “the rot of modern-day corporate media.”
If someone said I had to choose one tweet as a museum exhibit to illustrate the rot of modern-day corporate media, I actually might choose this one:
An ex-FBI agent, now (needless to say) employed by CNN, equating a mildly crude anti-Biden slogan with a loyalty pledge to ISIS: pic.twitter.com/7Eu09owbzL
You're a smart woman. This is is VERY bad take. This pilot (who def deserves to be reprimanded, sure) was saying, essentially, "screw Biden." OK. Wrong. BUT that's NOT the same as saying "Long live a brutal group that has brutally murdered THOUSANDS, inc children." https://t.co/tAFawNMF1l
“How can you possibly view these as comparable?!”reacted New York Post reporter Jon Levine, while another person noted that they are not even “remotely similar statements.”
Mediaite editor Caleb Howe tweeted, “As an experiment, I'd love for CNN to employ an intelligent analyst.” One social media user joked that though “the people on the plane would be horribly traumatized,” it “would prove a point on twitter so who knows who's right.”
Associated Press reporter Colleen Long reported on the pilot's alleged comments on Saturday and also claimed that she was nearly “removed” from the flight for attempting to question the pilot in the aftermath.
The phrase ‘Let's go Brandon’ originates from a viral video where an NBC reporter mistakenly heard chants of ‘F**k Joe Biden’ at a NASCAR event as ‘Let's go Brandon’ in support of one of the NASCAR drivers.
Since the meme went viral, several songs titled ‘Let's go Brandon’ have also been released, including a rap song from conservative rapper Bryson Gray.
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