(UPDATE: Shared Services Canada released a statement Monday afternoon that the memo showing that the Trudeau government banned the use of “Let’s Go Brandon” in communications is fake. According to the National Post, the image “appears to have originated on @halory, a small, anonymous Twitter account claiming to be based in Richmond, Va.”)

If you’ve been paying attention to politics for the last month, then you’ve no doubt heard of the “let’s go Brandon” meme that’s been making the rounds. The background involves a NASCAR event and a reporter who either can’t hear or was trying to smooth things over for the cameras as the crowd behind her chanted a certain obscene phrase about Joe Biden.

RedState reported on the viral sensation at the time.

“F Joe Biden” chants break out during NASCAR interview. #FJB pic.twitter.com/1iYZel4zFT

— Jewish Deplorable (@TrumpJew2) October 3, 2021

And thus, “let’s go Brandon” was born as a more kid-friendly way to express one’s displeasure with the president and his mix of incompetence and malice that has led to so many crushing failures for the nation over the last year. There’s even an iTunes song because the absurdity of our current political moment is what it is.

Apparently, though, some phone calls got made because the Canadian government is now promising retribution against any of its employees that use the phrase, not just in public, but even in correspondence between private parties. They will be monitoring for violations.

Canadian government workers must not say "Let's Go Brandon", or any variation thereof, in any communication.

😂#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/kDVpWQkqk3

— Peter McCaffrey (@peteremcc) October 17, 2021

Just when you thought public-sector unions were all-powerful institutions, we’ve finally found the one thing that can override even them: making fun of Joe Biden.

According to the memo, vetting of personal correspondence will take place to ensure no one is sharing choice memes that might hurt the US president’s feelings. And while they try to make it seem as if this is a general rule, the explicit mention of “let’s go Brandon” makes it clear this memo doesn’t go out if there wasn’t already an issue with employees using the phrase.

So did one of Biden’s representatives push for this? We’ll never know, but even if this is just Canada acting on their own, this kind of thing always backfires. To the extent that people in the Canadian government were attaching “let’s go Brandon” memes in emails and such, no one was aware of it except those employees. Now, this ban has gone viral and it only draws more attention to the fact that a lot of people a mocking Biden.

Lastly, there’s something pathetic about the president needing to be shielded this way, directly or indirectly. It’s typically better to lean into a joke than to have people start banning stuff to protect you. Yet, Biden continually comes off as weak and impotent so add this to the list.