Anti-Trump protesters are raking in cash after disrupting rallies

Protesters at President Donald Trump’s midterm rallies have found innovative ways to get paid and grab clout.After multiple outbursts at his midterm campaign stops, Trump accused protesters of being paid to stir up trouble, and he may be right.'Trump says I got $250 as a paid protester. Prove him wrong!'At least two protesters have used crowdfunding to profit off their five minutes of fame, and two others are Democrat candidates for state House seats supported by wealthy left-wing organizations.Indivisible, which organizes the No Kings protests, has ties to some of these protesters. The group itself has accepted over $7.6 million from George Soros' Open Society Foundations since 2017, according to public grant records.The biggest haul belongs to “absurdist activist” Rob Potylo. Potylo, also known as “Robby Roadsteamer,” burst into a Jeffrey Epstein-themed protest song at Trump’s rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Wednesday.Potylo posted the uncut video to YouTube the next day. Its description links to a GoFundMe titled "Robby Roadsteamer has been detained by ICE in Portland!" Though the fund predates that rally, Potylo implored his supporters to donate after the rally disruption.At least 4,600 supporters donated $127,831 total as of Monday."Folks this ain't easy! Please donate!" Potylo posted on X on Wednesday after being ejected from the event. "Trump says I got $250 as a paid protester. Prove him wrong!"Potylo told HuffPost that he raked in donations after his viral protest video. The professional activist also accepts payment via PayPal, Patreon, Venmo, and Cash App, according to his personal website.RELATED: George Soros foundations fund No Kings protests against Trump Brevard County Two other hecklers are using their rally protests to campaign for state legislature.Alan Buckalew was among about a dozen people removed from Trump's Oct. 21 rally at Clemson University's T. Ed Garrison Arena in Pendleton, South Carolina. "Why are you selling us out to the Soviets?" Buckalew shouted, according to the Greenville News.Buckalew is the Democrat nominee for South Carolina House District 28. Indivisible Upstate SC endorsed him in October.Ben Braver, a Democrat Florida state House candidate, took things a step farther.Lakeland, Florida, police arrested Braver at Vice President JD Vance's Oct. 1 rally and charged him with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence, according to Fox 13. He was later released on a $2,000 bond.Braver "planted his foot in opposition to the direction he was being escorted," an officer wrote. The officer took him to the ground with a leg sweep. Braver told Fox 13 he did not intend to resist. His video of the arrest has drawn 381,000 likes on Instagram, captioned "Was this police response appropriate?"Vance called him a "Democratic plant.""I was practicing our inalienable First Amendment rights to free speech against pedophile protectors like JD Vance and had absolutely no intention of resisting the officer," Braver told Blaze News.Braver is challenging state Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman (R) in House District 65 in Tampa, Florida. He lost a 2024 state Senate race to state Sen. Danny Burgess (R) by about 21 points, according to Florida Politics.Emgage Action lists Braver among its endorsements. Open Society has given Emgage Action, a Muslim-American political organization, and its corresponding partner, Emgage Foundation, at least $5.5 million since 2018, grant records show.Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Florida NOW PAC also support Braver’s campaign. The candidate urged his X followers to "share" an Indivisible event about Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) in August 2025.Braver also promoted No Kings rallies as campaign stops on Instagram and vowed in July to "end our agreements with the dangerous and murderous ICE."Braver's activism predates his campaigns. As a University of South Florida junior in 2023, he led Stand for Freedom FL, a statewide campus walkout demanding that the DeSantis administration "restore DEI initiatives" and stop its "attack on LGBTQ+ students," Them reported.Timothy Matthew McDaniel is yet another activist who, in some way, has profited off of his anti-Trump protests.RELATED: Ilhan Omar resurfaces for first time since federal raid in tearful cash grab South Carolina Public IndexMcDaniel, who goes by Matthew on social media, yelled, "You're the criminal!" when Trump mentioned "criminal aliens" at his Oct. 21 Pendleton, South Carolina, rally. Attendees subdued him, and he later filed a police report alleging assault with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, according to the Greenville News.McDaniel, a 46-year-old Navy veteran, wore a "Foxtrot Delta Tango" shirt — seemingly code for "F**k Donald Trump" — to the rally and calls himself an "independent who happens to support Democrats," according to the New Republic.He launched a GoFundMe three days after his rally outburst. The fund seeks $15,000 for "medical bills, legal expenses, reward offers, and security needs" and calls Trump a "mad 'wanna-be' king." It had raised $3,815 at the time of this report's publication."Hopefully, the reward money will loosen some lips," McDaniel wrote in a Facebook comment under the fundraiser.His Facebook page leaves little doubt about his antagonism toward the president.He made Comey's "8647" seashell image his profile picture in April, shared a meme last December casting Trump as the Antichrist and attacking evangelical Christians, and slammed a local bar as a place to "hang out with neo-na$is or the usual MAGA maniacs."McDaniel also promoted an Indivisible "Vote Early Block Party" in Pendleton, South Carolina, in September.A Timothy Matthew McDaniel of South Carolina with the same birth year as the protester has a lengthy rap sheet.McDaniel pled guilty to public drunkenness in Clemson, South Carolina, in 2005 and was found guilty of reckless driving in 2004 and hit-and-run property damage in 2005 in neighboring Oconee County, according to South Carolina Public Index records. He was also found guilty of driving under suspension in 2010.Potylo, Buckalew, McDaniel, Indivisible, Emgage Action, and the Open Society Foundations did not respond to Blaze News' requests for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!