WalkAway campaign
The #WalkAway campaign is a social-media campaign that was launched ahead of the 2018 [United States elections|United States 2018 mid-term elections] with the stated purpose of encouraging voters to leave the Democratic Party. The campaign, which also organized events to support Donald Trump, was noted and criticized for its astroturfing methods and the claim that there was a popular movement of people leaving the party.
In 2021, the group's founder, Brandon Straka, a hairstylist and aspiring actor from New York City, participated in the January 6 [United States Capitol attack|2021 United States Capitol attack]. Following this, the group's Facebook page, which had more than half a million followers, was closed for violations of the site's terms of service.
Organization
The campaign is set up as a foundation |foundation] and a political action committee:- The #WalkAway Foundation is a registered 501 organization defined as an Alliance/Advocacy Organizations within the Public, Society Benefit - Multipurpose and Other category. The IRS ruling year for tax exemption was 2019. While no IRS annual return is on file for 2019, the 2018 filing shows contributions of $97,950 with officers reported as Brandon Straka, chairman; Maria Albanese, director, and Tracy Diaz, director. As of October 28, 2020, the foundation was involved in an online fundraising campaign through classy.org which had raised nearly $125,000.
- The PAC is set up as #Walkaway Campaign PAC and shows receipts of $29,000 through the 2020 cycle. The FEC registration is C00718197 and the treasurer of the PAC is indicated as Dan Backer.
Methods and fundraising
Activities
In the run-up to the 2020 United States presidential election, the WalkAway campaign held rallies and marches in various cities, an effort to get people to vote for President Donald Trump. In August 2020, the WalkAway campaign held a rally in West Hollywood, California. Nearly 300 demonstrators attended, including YouTuber Joy Villa. Many held flags and signs supportive of Trump and critical of the Democratic Party. On September 5, the campaign held a rally in Dallas, Texas, during which a Black Lives Matter counter-protester was arrested for misdemeanor assault. On October 3, 2020, Straka held a rally in Washington, D.C. In 2025, the WalkAway Campaign launched the American Restoration Tour to encourage voters to leave the Democratic Party and support conservative candidates, targeting states like California, New Jersey, and Virginia. On April 27, 2025, a rally was held in Beverly Hills, California, with speakers including former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, conservative activist Jairo Tomico and musician Cherie Currie. The event aimed to mobilize voters for future elections.Straka's participation in the 2021 Capitol attack
Straka attended the 2021 United States Capitol attack and spoke to crowds on January 5 where he referred to the audience as "patriots" and referred repeatedly to a "revolution." He also told the attendees to "fight back" and added, "We are sending a message to the Democrats, we are not going away, you've got a problem!"The next day, he urged protestors to take away a police officer's shield, shouting "Take it away from him" and "Take it! Take it!" Later, as others tried to charge through the entrance to the Capitol, he shouted, "Go! Go!"
On January 8, Facebook closed the #WalkAway page, which had more than half a million followers at the time. The page was replaced with a message from Facebook saying the page had violated its terms of use. The shutdown came in the wake of the Capitol attack, when Facebook and other social media platforms increased their enforcement of terms of service that ban the incitement of violence. Facebook said the page violated a policy on content that was, "hateful, threatening, or obscene".
On January 25, Straka was arrested in Nebraska by the FBI for "impeding law enforcement officers during civil disorder" and unlawful entry into a restricted building, as well as disorderly conduct in relation to his role in the violent disturbance. He pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge in October 2021, which could be punishable by up to six months in prison, and agreed to provide private social media and other evidence to investigators. Prosecutors postponed Straka's December 2021 sentencing for thirty days to evaluate evidence he had provided. Straka was later sentenced to three years probation for his role in the Capitol riot.
Straka attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2022, where he appeared in a cage wearing an orange jumpsuit despite never serving time in jail for the Capitol attack. At one point U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene entered the cage and prayed with him. He also made an appearance at CPAC 2023; alongside fellow rioters Derrick Evans and Simone Gold, he was a speaker at a session titled "True Stories of January 6: The Prosecuted Speak".
In January 2025, Straka was Pardon of [January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants|pardoned], along with others convicted for their Jan. 6 offenses, by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second presidency.
Reactions
In 2018, David A. Love of CNN condemned the campaign as "pure propaganda a psychological operation."That same year, Abby Ohlheiser wrote in The Washington Post, "There's little actual evidence to suggest that #WalkAway represents a mass conversion of millions – or even thousands – of Democrats" and contrasted the broad appeal of true viral videos with the "Conservative Internet viral" nature of the WalkAway video. ThinkProgress characterized the campaign as "a grifting operation," noting efforts by the organizers to sell dinner packages priced in the hundreds of dollars to march attendees.
Slate journalist Mark Joseph Stern accused Straka of presenting royalty-free stock images from Shutterstock and claiming they were of people who had left the Democratic Party, though Straka denied that any such material originated from the WalkAway campaign. Fact-checking website Snopes stated that it could not determine whether this use of stock images had originated from campaign organizers.