A white, gay part-time hairdresser and struggling actor in West Hollywood? Where’s the news in that? Well, this white, gay part-time hairdresser and struggling actor is Brandon Straka, who will be leading the #WalkAway march in West Hollywood. And #WalkAway? That’s a social media campaign that celebrates members of the Democratic Party who have “walked away” to endorse Donald Trump and condemn the “radical Left.”
Today’s march is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards. That intersection has become an important rallying point for those involved in various causes. They include the demand that Ed Buck be prosecuted for the methamphetamine death of Gemmel Moore and the All Black Lives Matter march on June 14, which attracted tens of thousands protesting police brutality and culminated in the Santa Monica / San Vicente intersection (which in another controversial moment had been painted with the image of the transgender flag.) The marchers will then head west on Santa Monica Boulevard to rally at Beverly Garden Park in Beverly Hills. The main speaker there will be Drew Hernandez, creator of the LivesMatter social media campaign that purports to call out “fake media” to support Donald Trump.
Straka, who is from New York City, is the founder of #WalkAway. That campaign took off in 2018 when he posted a video ahead of the midterm elections in which he explained why he walked away from Democratic Party. He has been a regular guest since then on various Fox News shows and in October 2018 he led a #WalkAway march in Washington, D.C., that attracted more than 5,000 participants. Donald Trump praised the movement in a Tweet in 2019.
Questions have been raised about who besides Strake is behind the #WalkAway movement. The website Hamilton 68, a product of the Alliance for Securing Democracy that tracks Russia’s interference on U.S. elections, says there is evidence that WalkAway is connected to Russian bots that promote the movement as more popular than it really is.
Straka’s live events in Atlanta and elsewhere have focused on Black voters, and he says that he also wants to focus more on Jewish, gay and Hispanic voters who identify as Democrats. The vast majority of voters in West Hollywood are registered as Democrats, and the city got a lot of attention in 2016 when Mayor Lindsey Horvath said Donald Trump was banned from coming to West Hollywood.
However, there are Republicans in the community. Daniel and Simon Mani, who are among the city’s biggest real estate tycoons, are major donors to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign (and to the campaigns of incumbent West Hollywood City Council members). And the Log Cabin Republicans of Los Angeles, an organization of gay Republicans who are avid supporters of Donald Trump, lists West Hollywood as its address. The Log Cabin Republicans are planning what sounds likely to be a very crowded pool party this weekend at a locations disclosed only to members who confirm they are attending.
if you want a socialist party like the Democratic joke why not move to Russia or China or to Castro land and see how fast you will beg to come back to America. How ignorant can you be. If the democrats get into 0ffice only the politicians will be able to get health insurance care without waiting on long lines and if your lucky you will see a so called doctor. Remember don’t bother calling 911 for help you will not get any. Looting ,murder and robbery is coming to your neighborhood really soon why not who will stop it… Read more »
Pity those with limited choices. Pity those that are ‘yes/no’, ‘black/white’, red/blue. This is a world degrees. In California the three major voter registration groups are. There is a 3rd option. In fact, it’s more popular than being a republican. If I may cut and paste from the Institute of Public Policy: Voter registration is up; the share of independents has increased. Almost eight in ten eligible adults (79.1%) are registered to vote in California; this is a notable increase from the registration rate in 2015 (72.7%), the year before the previous presidential election. The share of the 19.9 million… Read more »
Straka would be perfect in the role of Roy Cohen, the self-loathing gay man who was right at the side of Senator Joe (Red Scare) McCarthy in the 1950s. And Cohen, like Straka, loved publicity. Maybe Straka does have a future as an actor, although he might as well be playing himself.
So you can’t be gay and be a Republican? And as for his work history, which really isn’t relevant to the article (it’s more of a not-so-subtle zing) have any of you had trouble finding “your place” in the world? Brandon is doing extremely well and perhaps it’s his hard knocks that have afforded him the strength to help people think for themselves and walk away from the lunacy of the Left.
I said nothing about being gay and a Republican. Please quote what I wrote that would lead you to this erroneous conclusion.
My Error, it’s spelled COHN not Cohen.
btw, struggling is an understatement; check out his sorry IMDB profile; mostly Fox News appearances. Lists himself as a New York hairdresser…..New York is calling! Walk Away from WeHo and leave us alone!
Paraphrasing Joe Biden: “If you vote for Trump, then you ain’t gay”
There is s two party system, even in Weho.
From the looks of his head, he’s also a struggling hairdresser.
This guy’s an insult to the serious gay republicans out there – all 4 of them.
#getahaircutbrandon
at least they didn’t loot and damage property.
Actually, it’s worse. They are supporting a man who would destroy our democracy so he can be dictator for life. I think his supporters would be delighted if they lived in Germany in the 1930s. No, make that Italy since Trump so much reminds me of Mussolini.
“struggling actor” explains it all. anything for attention. including selling your soul. so much self-loathing involved when members of minority groups support the GOP.
Can we plan a march called “No More Marches “?
Hey Brandon – by all means, please, walk away. And then stay away.
Wow, I love how much tolerance there is within the gay community. So accepting.
Why should we be tolerant of a bigoted, anti-gay Right Wing regime? Answer me that. It’s like asking hens to be tolerant of KFC.
We don’t tolerate bigotry and corruption. That rules out the whole GOP unfortunately.