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#Walkaway campaign launched by gay NY hairdresser speaks to disenchanted liberals Ex-liberal who started #Walkway campaign says ‘oppressive’ Left has drowned out ‘common sense’
(about 17 hours later)
The #Walkway campaign, a grassroots initiative by New York-based stylist Brandon Straka, has been blowing up on Twitter, with disappointed ex-Democrats telling stories of what prompted them to "take the red pill." The #Walkaway campaign has helped thousands of disillusioned Democrats regain their own voices and push back against “oppression” and incivility from the Left, the movement’s founder told RT in an interview.
The movement has been gaining momentum since a YouTube video, starring Straka, went viral. In the video, originally posted late May, Straka, an openly gay man, explains why he decided to bid farewell to the party despite being a "lifelong Democrat." The #Walkaway hashtag went viral after New York-based stylist Brandon Straka, an openly gay man, created a short video explaining why he felt alienated by the Democratic Party and had to “walk away” – despite being a “lifelong liberal.” Thousands of other wary Democrats have since joined Straka, posting videos explaining why they too felt compelled to leave the party. 
"For years now, I have watched as the left has devolved into intolerant, inflexible, illogical, hateful, misguided, ill-informed, un-American, hypocritical, menacing, callous, ignorant, narrow-minded, and at times blatantly fascistic behavior and rhetoric," Straka says in the video, arguing that the in its effort to drum up the votes, the Democratic Party "has joined forces with the extremist left." “I think the expectation for a lot of minority groups is that we’re supposed to vote Democrat, and that we’re supposed to be liberals. So I found myself sort of in that tribe on the Left most of my life,” Straka told RT. “What I wanted to do is get people back in touch with their voices and push back against the narrative on the Left.”
Accusing Democrats of cultivating a victim mentality among the party's minority supporters, Straka argues that its attempt to portray a person of color, a woman, an LGTB person, a migrant as a "victim of systemic oppression" is the party's "greatest and most insidious lie" that is needed so the minorities will see their saviors in Democrats, who in fact do nothing to improve the situation. In the video that kicked off his campaign, Straka said that he had watched with grave concern as “the Left devolved into intolerant, inflexible, illogical, hateful, misguided, ill-informed, un-American, hypocritical, menacing, callous, ignorant, narrow-minded, and at times blatantly fascistic behavior and rhetoric.”
The video has since been watched over 420,000 times, receiving over 16,300 likes and fewer than 300 dislikes. People have been posting their own testimonies across all social networks under #Walkaway hashtag on what had triggered them to leave the party Accusing Democrats of cultivating a victim mentality among the party’s minority supporters, Straka argues that its attempt to portray a person of color, a woman, an LGTB person, a migrant as a “victim of systemic oppression” is the party’s “greatest and most insidious lie” – which is needed so minorities will see their saviors to be Democrats, who in fact do nothing to improve their situations.
The momentum that has been generated by the campaign has caused some to suspect that it was a product of conservative spinmasters and Straka was no more than an actor, chosen to read the text. The activist himself dismisses the allegations of "being hired by the Koch brothers" or conservative news site Breitbart as laughable, saying that he was behind the script "100 percent" and drew inspiration "from the passion that I feel in my heart for what I was saying." The video has since been watched over 420,000 times, receiving over 16,300 likes and fewer than 300 dislikes. People have been posting their own testimonies across all social media networks under the #Walkaway hashtag on what triggered them to leave the party.
Straka, who has become a frequent guest on TV shows since his campaign took off, told RT that the ultimate goal of his movement is to "get people back in touch with their voices."
Speaking about the last straw that caused him to turn his back on his former party, the stylist-turned-activist said that "the identity politics" and "the politically correct culture" promoted by the Democrats eventually "take over common sense." The momentum generated by the campaign has caused some to suspect that it is the product of conservative spin masters, and Straka is nothing more than an actor, chosen to read the lines. The activist himself dismisses the allegations of “being hired by the Koch brothers” or conservative news site Breitbart as laughable, saying that he was behind the script “100 percent” and drew inspiration “from the passion that I feel in my heart for what I was saying.”
"It just began to get more and more out of control and it was something I could no longer tolerate," he said, adding that while, as a gay man, he was "a kind of Democrat by default," the direction in which the Democrats are going has been making him "extremely uncomfortable" for years. While Straka has received massive positive feedback, critics argue that those who joined the movement are not Democrats who have suddenly awakened to the truth, but conservatives. Some long-time conservative supporters have indeed tweeted their own videos with the #Walkaway hashtag, like young black activist C.J. Pearson. He didn’t attempt to portray his address as an ex-liberal’s “walkaway” moment, but simply to give a boost to the campaign.
While Straka has faced a massive positive feedback, critics argue that those who joined the movement are not Democrats who have suddenly awaken to the truth, but conservatives. Some long-time conservative supporters have indeed tweeted their own videos with the #Walkaway hashtag, like young black activist C.J. Pearson. He didn't attempt to portray his address as an ex-liberal's "walkaway" moment, but simply giving a boost to the campaign. “My campaign is not mostly comprised of people who are conservative. And in fact, anybody who is saying that, I encourage them to go into the page,” Straka said.
The Walkaway campaign Facebook page has over 40 thousand followers. Straka argues that most converts are genuine. Despite hours of video testimonies shot by real people, some commenters invoked the old ‘blame Russia’ narrative, alleging that the activists might as well be ‘Russian trolls’.
"My campaign is not mostly comprised of people who are conservative. And in fact, anybody who is saying that, I encourage them to go into the page," he said. “The video testimonials don’t lie, those are not Russian bots, if you will, and these aren’t manufactured stories, these are real people telling real stories,” Straka told RT.
Despite hours of video testimonies, shot by real people, some commentators invoked the old 'blame Russia' narrative, alleging that the activists might as well be 'Russian trolls.' Like this story? Share it with a friend!