Scott Presler

[[File:March Against Sharia in Raleigh (36978800815).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Two of the three<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/amid-anti-trump-protests-one-lgbtq-group-celebrated-n711261 Amid Anti-Trump Protests, One LGBTQ Group Celebrated] by William Sherman (Jan. 24, 2017, 8:42 AM PST / Updated Jan. 24, 2017, 8:42 AM PST) ''NBC News''.</ref> (?) known members of Gays for Trump]]
'''Scott Presler''' aka "'''#ThePersistence'''" {{lived|1988}}  is a professional [[concern troll]] and [[Republican]] political operative. Presler is the founder of #GaysFor[[Donald Trump|Trump]] and organizer of ACT! For America, which the [[Anti-Defamation League]] says is the largest American organization of [[islamophobia|anti-muslim]] [[bigot]]s in America.<ref>[https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/act-for-america  ACT for America]</ref>  Presler is best known for organizing and publicizing 
media stunts
 charitiable volunteer work, such as picking up trash in West Baltimore<ref>[https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0808-conservatives-clean-west-baltimore-20190806-hmc2gndnhfhodch4yxromipgnq-story.html We assume it was pure motives that led a Trump supporter to launch a cleanup in Cummings’ district, right?]</ref> and throwing away homeless people's property in Los Angeles<ref>[https://la.streetsblog.org/2019/11/23/homelessness-coverage-that-punches-down-could-we-just-not/ Homelessness Coverage that Punches Down: Could We Just Not?]</ref> in order to prove [[Compassionate conservatism|conservatives are more compassionate]] than the so-called tolerant left. Which is something that throwing away homeless people's property obviously proves.{{fact|joke}} Presler organizes events that [[greenwashing|greenwash]] racist [[canard|canards]], using altruism as the excuse, in order to appeal to the [[religious right]].

==Reply Guy==
In 2016, Presler was employed by the [[Virginia]] Republican Party as a [[token]] gay 
apologist
 organizer, supporting the party platform to overturn [[gay marriage]], make it legal to discriminate against [[LGBT]] people, end gay adoption, and allow 
child torture
 [[Reparative therapy|gay conversion therapy]].<ref>[https://www.pilotonline.com/government/article_cce68172-2187-514e-a16b-171a53e4e1b7.html He's gay, but this Virginia Beach man is outspoken in his support for Donald Trump and the GOP]</ref><ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/log-cabin-republicans-gop-party-platform-anti-lgbt/story?id=40564850 Log Cabin Republicans: GOP Platform the 'Most Anti-LGBT' in Party's History]</ref> Since that election, Presler has launched a very successful social media brand strategy, targeting social conservatives who want to moralize and be [[racist]] at the same time. Much like [[Diamond and Silk]], he uses his position as a minority to reinforce the idea that the people fighting bigotry are the ''real'' bigots. By tweeting videos of his political theater at hundreds of establishment Republicans, including Trump, he gained hundreds of thousands of followers, and where he repeats the [[talking point]] of the day.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-who-replies-to-trumps-tweets/ The Seven Types of People Who Tweet at Trump]</ref> This blind loyalty has led to him being a speaker at CPAC and an up-and-coming star of the Republican Party.<ref>[https://cpac.conservative.org/speaker/scott-presler/ CPAC 2020 | Scott Presler]</ref>

==Activism==
In 2017, Presler organized a “March Against Sharia” with ACT for America, alongside [[white supremacist]] Billy Roper.

The march also reportedly organized with Joey Gibson’s Patriot Prayer group march in Portland<ref>[https://komonews.com/news/local/anti-muslim-rally-planned-for-portland-moved-to-seattle Organizers: Anti-Muslim rally planned for Portland moved to Seattle]</ref> and there were reportedly many other [[neo-Nazi]] group members in attendance.<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-sharia-group-with-close-ties-to-trump-has-a-nazi-problem_n_59d2a231e4b048a44324852b Anti-Sharia Group With Close Ties To Donald Trump Has A Nazi Problem]</ref>

Presler attempted to parlay the negative press into a College Campus Free Speech tour, co-sponsored by [[Turning Point USA]], where he would give dramatized, emotional speeches about the threat of [[radical Islam]] to places like rural [[Ohio]].<ref>[https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/09/act-america-sets-its-sights-college-campuses-upcoming-speaking-tour ACT for America sets its sights on college campuses with upcoming speaking tour]</ref> This was intended to get the organization free [[advertising]] by triggering students and feeding into the [[right-wing]] [[free speech]] [[moral panic]]. However by 2017, it failed to gain traction, and he went back to work as a field director for the Virginia Republican Party, touring the country holding “activism” seminars.<ref>[https://apnews.com/7f2c96067b3f44d184163d236c8090e6 Virginian linked to hate group will hold “activism” seminar in New Milford]</ref>

The “activism” included condescending #CleanUp events in black neighborhoods in Baltimore, [[San Francisco]], Los Angeles, as well as at the US-Mexico border. These amount to thinly veiled political rallies and photo opportunities for local media and social media coverage.<ref>[https://therealnews.com/stories/right-wing-extremist-scott-presler-organizes-trash-clean-up-in-west-baltimore Right-Wing Extremist Scott Presler Organizes Trash Clean Up in West Baltimore]</ref> Presler routinely uses these events to give over-the-top, demagogic speeches about the death of the country to attendees.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/ScottRyanPresler/videos/342549830215610 Our country is teetering on the edge. We either rise this November or we fall together. | Scott Presler, Facebook 8-30-2020]</ref>

In 2018 his Gays for Trump organisation organised a roaring massive march in Washington D.C. with numbers almost reaching a dozen people. There were more counter-protesters than attendees and 100 people observing the pitiful event.

In 2018, Presler started the “Blacks Before Illegals” campaign, copying the [[Black Lives Matter]] logo, in a failed attempt to [[astroturf]] racial division.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200830154108/https://twitter.com/getsthegoods/status/1221079058269732864 Scott Presler also tried this agitation: “Blacks before illegals” for a few months, purchasing signs that imitated BLM, failed at a protest on MLK Day, and stood outside a Taco Bell.] by @getthegoods (06:35 - 25 Jan. 2020)  Twitter (archived from August 30, 2020).</ref> This campaign would go on to get him suspended from [[Twitter]] for saying totally even-tempered, non-sweeping general statements like “Black lives murdered by criminal illegal aliens don’t matter” and “criminal illegal aliens are raping our 6-year-old girls”.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200617235538/https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/conservative-gay-activist-scott-presler-suspended-from-twitter-for-posting-facts-about-illegal-aliens-murdering-blacks/ Conservative Gay Activist Scott Presler Suspended From Twitter For Posting Facts About Illegal Aliens Murdering Blacks] by Cristina Laila (January 27, 2019 at 1:37pm) ''The Gateway Pundit'' (archived from June 17, 2020).</ref>

Presler isn’t afraid to nod at fringe right-wing [[conspiracy theories]] and share them with his hundreds of thousands of followers. These range from a [[Murder of Seth Rich|Seth Rich]] truther<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200806055835/https://twitter.com/scottpresler/status/850735763880804356 This is Seth Rich. He was mysteriously murdered. He's the alleged DNC whistleblower. Retweet. He needs Justice.] by @ScottPresler (08:43 - 8. Apr. 2017) ''Twitter'' (archived from August 6, 2020).</ref> to pushing the idea that the [[COVID-19]] 
[[plandemic]]
 
scamdemic
 pandemic is fake and hospitals are actually empty.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200423231852/https://twitter.com/ScottPresler/status/1244391801412358144 I visited my hospital in Fairfax County, one of the largest population hubs in America. I didn’t see a lot of cars, a lot of people, or hardly any activity. Wanted to see with my own eyes.] by @scottpresler ((3:31 - 29 May 2020)) ''Twitter'' (archived from April 23, 2020).</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Presler, Scott}}
[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Trolls]]

Categories: Conservative deceit, Conspiracy theorists, LGBTQ people, Internalized discrimination, Living people, Right-wing activists, Trolls