The caller who blurted out “Let’s Go Brandon” to Joe and Jill Biden, while they were fielding calls from the NORAD Santa tracking service on Christmas Eve, said it was intended as a lighthearted joke and not intended to be crude, despite the phrase meaning “F*ck Joe Biden.”

Following the moment going viral on social media and sparking outrage, Jared Schmeck, an Oregon resident and electrician, told The Oregonian he meant “no disrespect” to President Biden. Calling his phone conversation with the Bidens a “joke,” Schmeck claimed he has been “attacked for utilizing [his] freedom of speech” in the aftermath of the event. “I understand there is a vulgar meaning to ‘Let’s go, Brandon,’ but I’m not that simple minded, no matter how I feel about him,” he said. “It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner.” Schmeck couldn’t be reached for comment by The Daily Beast on Saturday evening.