NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast earned her own checkered flag for misinterpreting an anti-Joe Biden chant at a NASCAR race as congratulations for race winner Brandon Brown. (Watch the clips below.)
Brown was commenting on his Xfinity Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama Saturday while the crowd repeatedly yelled “Fuck Joe Biden.”
That’s not what Stavast seemed to hear.
“As you can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon.’” she remarked.
As the jeers continued, Stavast resumed her interview with Brown.
Newsweek wrote that Stavast was attempting “damage control.” Deadline’s headline read that she “salvages embarrassing NASCAR interview with verbal dexterity,” but added in its report that she “is either hard of hearing, or a very, very quick thinker.”
Anti-Biden chants have broken out at other sporting events, including college football games and last month’s Ryder Cup golf competition.
Stavast doesn’t appear to have responded on social media. NBC Sports did not immediately reply to a HuffPost request for comment.
Here’s a longer look at Stavast’s interview with Brown: