# @wsj on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DK7PoECTpzc
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/31573342-wsj-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/b0e6804c9c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-06-15T15:00:47.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) — https://gondola.cc/WSJ

## Caption

In happier times Brandon Straka and Scott Presler were friends.⁠
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A photo of them from a 2018 Washington, D.C., movie premiere shows them wearing matching MAGA uniforms: dark suit, white shirt, red tie.⁠
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Both had risen from the margins to become charismatic MAGA celebrities with millions of followers and ties to Lara Trump. Their ticket was their talent at using their own social-media platforms to turn out votes for her father-in-law, Donald Trump. ⁠
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The fact that they were both openly gay only seemed to enhance their profile in a movement known for a broad streak of social conservatism. Presler would become renowned in the MAGA world for supposedly delivering Pennsylvania to Trump in the 2024 election. Straka, meanwhile, found his own stardom at the head of a campaign, #WalkAway, that encourages disenchanted Democrats to follow him out the door to join the MAGA movement.⁠
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But last month, things changed. Straka took to social media not to praise his friend, but to bury him. In a 14-minute post on X titled “The Truth About Scott Presler…Part 1,” he accused his former comrade of faking everything from the voter-registration totals that are his claim to fame to adopting a phony Midwestern accent.⁠
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Presler called those claims “absurd” and despaired at having to deal with “friendly fire from the right” while he was trying to do his work.⁠
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Their feud has polarized the MAGA world, with many accusing Straka of jealousy and stirring needless infighting—perhaps even working as an enemy agent. Others have lauded his courage and come forward to back his claims.⁠
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Read more at the link in our bio.⁠
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Photo Illustration: Cam Pollack/WSJ; Brandon Straka, iStock

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## Tags

walkaway

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