MAGA makes its pitch to L.A.'s deep-blue Westside
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After Donald Trump's reelection last year, the Democratic Party has been criticized as out of touch, fragmented and rudderless.
MAGA Republicans looked to capitalize on that over the weekend with a rally aimed at courting disaffected Democrats in liberal Los Angeles County, meeting in West Hollywood and then marching into Beverly Hills.
The Sunday rally, dubbed the 'American Restoration Tour,' was organized by members of the #WalkAway movement, which is encouraging voters to leave the Democratic Party.
Although Democrat Kamala Harris won California's electoral votes in last year's presidential election, her margin declined from Joe Biden's 2020 victory. And down ballot, voters challenged the Golden State's deep blue reputation by rejecting some progressive efforts aimed at affordable housing, income inequality and criminal justice reform.
Given Democrats' current identity crisis, it's not surprising that conservatives, many still riding the high of Trump's victory, are making their pitch and making it here.
The rally was held in Beverly Gardens Park, which 'has been the site of frequent demonstrations in support of Trump,' Times reporters Lila Seidman and Seema Mehta wrote this week.
'Although much of the affluent Westside skews liberal, Beverly Hills is home to neighborhoods that repeatedly voted for Trump,' they noted.
The rally drew a few hundred attendees and began as a march in the city of West Hollywood. Diners in the LGBTQ+ enclave who gathered for brunch and drag queen performances got a different show as Trump supporters marched along Santa Monica Boulevard.
The MAGA march was met with a slightly larger number of counterprotesters, who gathered nearby, yelling, 'No KKK! No fascist USA! No Trump!' The event stayed mostly peaceful, my colleagues reported, other than a small fight and an arrest at the rally in Beverly Hills.
There was a common thread linking many of the speakers, Seema and Lila reported: 'former liberals who felt disenfranchised by the Democratic Party and became full-throated Trump supporters.'
That included actress Natalie Beisner, who said she voted for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but rethought her political views in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Beisner told the crowd that she was called racist and selfish for raising concerns that protesters against the murder of George Floyd were allowed to gather en masse but she was not allowed to be with her grandmother as she died.
'These people refused to acknowledge that I might have an honest reason for disagreeing with them. There was no conversation,' Beisner said. 'So I walked away from the Democrat Party because for the first time in my life, I connected my suffering directly to Democrat policies.'
Also among the rally's speakers was former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, now based in San Diego, where he hosts a political show.
'They are the movement that allowed this great state to burn,' Gaetz told the crowd, referring to Democrats. 'They are the movement that turned what was paradise over to the homeless and illegal aliens.'
Democratic defectors to the MAGAverse would be welcomed 'with a patriotic embrace,' Gaetz added.
One thing that didn't come up during the rally: the Department of Justice's investigation into Gaetz for allegations of child sex trafficking, which did not lead to charges.
Gaetz resigned from Congress in November and withdrew himself from consideration to be U.S. attorney general after his nomination by then-President-elect Trump. The House Ethics Committee reported late last year that it had found evidence that Gaetz abused drugs and paid for sex with a minor during his tenure in Congress.
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