Gay MAGA fan defends Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ work and people can’t cope: ‘Wake up’
There are surprisingly a number of gay MAGA supporters (Image: Getty Images, stock)
A viral Instagram reel shows journalist Walter Masterson and trans youth activist Lorelai Crean interviewing “MAGA gays” at a Pride-adjacent gathering outside Trump Tower in New York City, with Crean challenging anti-trans rhetoric in a tense exchange.
In the video, Masterson opens by saying: “If I sound confused, that’s because I am.” The clip then moves through street interviews with attendees, including one supporter who disputes claims about LGBTQ+ rights and public health funding.
After being told that workplace protections and HIV funding were “under direct attack”, the interviewee responds: “I don’t think any of that’s true,” before claiming: “During his first administration, he was actually on a mission to eradicate HIV here in the United States,” and later dismissing criticisms as “talking points”.
The conversation then turns to trans rights, with the same interviewee asking: “What rights to trans people not have,” before raising what he calls a “big debate” about puberty blockers for trans kids. Crean tells him that trans youth have been refused medical care by hospitals even in New York City.
The video circulated after New York City Pride, which took place last week.
In the comments, one person wrote: “Omg wake up, Mary.” Another commented: “I’m so embarrassed for him.”
A third said: “Him: give me the facts. Also him after given the facts: that’s likely false.” Someone else added: “Hope everyone on Grindr sees this and blocks him immediately.”
Another added: “Bro might be out of the closet but he left his brain on the shelf.” As someone else wrote: “More examples of the tree supporting the axe.”
Who is the man in the video?
Someone in the comments noted the man being interviewed appears to be Brandon Straka, who has more than 1million followers on X (formerly Twitter) and regularly promotes far-right views.
Straka was arrested in January 2021 in connection with the Capitol riots. He was charged with impeding law enforcement officers during civil disorders, knowingly entering restricted grounds and engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress, according to NBC New York.
In October the same year, he pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building as part of a plea deal and received a three-year probation sentence, but was pardoned by Trump in January 2025 days before his sentence would have ended, as per WSAZ3.
Straka has denied taking part in a riot, and claimed that by taking the plea deal he pleaded guilty to things that were not true.
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