Meanings
- UShumorousironicslanggovernmentJoe Biden (46th President of the United States), usually used by supporters of Biden to refer to the idea of a more powerful version of him, or to point out something powerful he is believed to have done.
“Dark Brandon is crushing it,” tweeted Andrew Bates, the White House deputy press secretary, on Sunday night, referring to President Joe Biden.
2022 August 8, Perret Connor, Bryan Metzger, “Biden White House embraces ‘Dark Brandon,’ a parody of the ‘Dark MAGA’ meme used by the far right”, in Business Insider5 more examples
A 26-year-old sent a pithy email that argued: “Biden could literally do nothing for the next two and a half years[…] We chose the only candidate who could win and he did.” He also sent us a Biden meme of what he called “Dark Brandon.”
[2022 July 13, Alex Thompson, Max Tani, “The Holy War over Hunter Biden’s laptop”, in PoliticoCalifornia farmworkers may struggle with clout in our state Capitol, but they definitely have friends in higher places. Those include Dark Brandon, that feisty internet alter ego of Joe Biden who is done being the ice-cream-eating nice guy – and is letting his antagonists know it, whether they are MAGA Republicans or wayward California governors.
2022 September 7, Anita Chabria, “Dark Brandon turns the tables on Newsom; Governor, who has called out moderates, gets schooled by Biden in union fight”, in Los Angeles Times, page B1“That sneaky Joe Biden pulled an October surprise on the Republicans by doing something popular,” said Stephen Colbert of the marijuana pardon. “Today, Dark Brandon became Dank Brandon.”
2022 October 7, “Kimmel on Biden’s marijuana pardon: ‘Glad Willie Nelson is alive to see this’”, in The Guardian (online)Grant Stern, executive editor of political organization Occupy Democrats, wrote: “Dark Brandon gets Republicans to cheerily promise not to cut Social Security and Medicare live during the #SOTU speech!”
2023 February 8, Darragh Roche, “How Joe Biden Skewered Republicans in State of the Union ‘Masterclass’”, in Yerepouni Daily News, BeirutDemocrats have long sought to ignite their own messages online. And the Biden campaign has been quick to embrace the “Dark Brandon” meme, in which the president is depicted as a kind of superhero, sometimes with lasers for eyes.
2023 July 18, Jess Bidgood, “Ron DeSantis wants to make his mark online, but is it paying off?”, in Boston Globe (subscription)
Origin
From let's go, Brandon with influence from Dark MAGA.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Dark Brandon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dark%20Brandon
“Dark Brandon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dark%20Brandon. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dark Brandon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dark%20Brandon.
Source: Dark Brandon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.