Conservative activist Scott Presler travels America cleaning up cities, registering new voters
‘Our government is taking care of foreign nationals over the American people and my heart is with 50,000 homeless veterans. My heart is with 500,000 homeless Americans,’ Presler told Fox News Digital.
Conservative activist Scott Presler is traveling the nation to urge Americans who are sick of "failed Democrat policies" and rising gas prices to register to vote as Republicans while cleaning up the streets of trash-infested cities along the way.
"A major reason why I’m conservative and why this issue is so important to me is… our government is taking care of foreign nationals over the American people and my heart is with 50,000 homeless veterans. My heart is with 500,000 homeless Americans," Presler told Fox News Digital.
Scott Presler is on a mission to clean up American cities that have been let down by "failed Democrat policies" while registering a new generation of Republican voters along the way. ((Scott Presler))
He began his journey in the summer of 2019 when then-President Trump famously criticized Baltimore as a "disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess" that "no human being" would choose to live in. The remarks hit home with Presler, the son of a retired Navy captain, who first decided to get involved with Republican activism when he became upset while watching Barack Obama get reelected in 2012.
"They inspired me to take action because everyone was tweeting, they were posting content about the trash in Baltimore, but nobody was doing anything and I thought to myself, ‘OK, if not me then who?’ So I tweeted out to my followers and said, ‘I’m going to Baltimore,’" Presler said. "The tweet went viral."
Conservative activist Scott Presler organized his first community cleanup in Baltimore after President Trump called it a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
The Northern Virginia-based Presler was initially concerned that he committed to more than he could handle, but fellow conservatives quickly stepped up and offered to help. He didn’t know a thing about organizing a major cleanup effort, but figured it out along the way, ordering dumpsters, browsing Home Depot for inspiration and even renting a Porta Potty.
"Within six days we organized 200 volunteers, on a Monday, a workday, and we picked up 12 tons of trash in 12 hours on the most dangerous streets of America in West Baltimore," he said.
The 6-foot-5 inch Presler, known for his signature Fabio-like locks, then decided he could achieve similar success in other cities despite being a private citizen with limited resources who doesn’t have the backing of the government.
"We went to Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Dukane, Detroit, Houston, Kenosha, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Portland, Pittsburgh, Philly, and I was even protested for picking up trash in San Francisco, California," Presler said.
Conservative activist Scott Presler organized a cleanup even in Portland, where homelessness is a significant concern.
While it may seem like Presler is some sort of jet-setting mogul who travels around the nation, he actually relies on the kindness of like-minded people who care about America.
"The way that I’m able to do this, is if people want to donate, they may, but I have never once asked for donation. I’m very proud of that," he said. "People open their homes to me, like literally. I’m sleeping on couches, I’ve slept in RVs, I’ve slept in bunkbeds, I cuddle with people’s animals at their homes, and so it’s been the generosity of the American people opening their hearts and homes to me."
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Presler, who has nearly one million Twitter followers, didn’t even let coronavirus stop his mission, despite having to pause for a few months in 2020 when travel was difficult during the early months of the pandemic.
"My first cleanup after COVID was in Decatur, Georgia after the state of Georgia opened up and since then I have not stopped," Presler said.
Before and after images of an area where Scott Presler organized a cleanup effort.
While a global pandemic didn’t halt Presler’s mission, he feels "failed policies" from Democratic lawmakers made it much more difficult.
"I think, in the last two years we’ve seen crime, we’ve seen the homeless epidemic continue to rise, in part even under President Trump, but it was because of the regressive Democrat policies of ‘defund the police,’" he said. "What is the fruit of those failed policies? We’re seeing violent crime going up, we’re seeing homeless encampments popping up – Austin, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, New York City."
Presler said he’s encouraged by the way Americans have responded to the failed Democrat policies, including New York’s Nassau County where citizens on the outskirts of New York City are sick of the mess left by far-left leaders.
"They just voted red for the first time in decades," he said. "We’re seeing the people are responding to the waves of violent crime and homelessness, and they’re responding by voting conservatively," Presler said.
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When Fox News Digital asked the constantly optimistic Presler which areas of America are in the most distress, he quickly rephrased the question.
"The cities that, we’ll say, need the most love and attention, because I want to put a positive spin on it," Presler said before answering. "Definitely, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, but I will say, the cleanup that I think we had the most impact in doing was in Van Nuys, California."
(Conservative activist Scott Presler (right) has organized cleanup efforts in major cities across America. (Scott Presler))
Presler and his team of volunteers picked up a staggering 50 tons of trash from a homeless encampment in the suburb of Los Angeles.
"It was federal property leased to the state of California, and it had all of this trash, and it had homeless people living there," he said. "The federal government said, ‘We don’t have to clean this up because it’s leased to the state of California,’ the state of California said, ‘California said we don’t have to clean this up because this is federal property,’ so it took private citizens working with the homeless community who opened up the gate to us, who, by the way, donned hazmat suits in 90-plus degree weather to clean up the community."
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Presler thinks the government could clean up America and offer opportunities to improve the lives of the homeless community in one fell swoop if it truly cared.
"If we want to solve homelessness, and we also want to solve the problem of litter in our streets and cities, I love the idea of potentially hiring members of the homeless community… we can provide them with job experience, work experience and also help beautify our cities so that we’re killing two birds with one stone," he said. "If our government really wanted to show that it cares, it will put we the American people first and provide mental health care, providing housing, and providing job opportunities to the American people."
Scott Presler helps volunteers register to vote during his cleanup events.
As the conservative activist travels the nation to clean up American cities, he also helps Americans register to vote. This month he traveled to Long Island, New York and set up at various gas stations getting customers who are peeved over bloated gas prices to register as Republicans.
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"I’m very focused on the midterm elections, I’m dedicating this next year exclusively in order to take the House, take the Senate, win governorships and state legislatures across the country, but ultimately that means that we need to expand the electorate and register new voters," he said.
Presler has he’s already made significant impact in Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York and plans to visit as many states as possible to register Americans to vote for Republican candidates.
"Ultimately, people aren’t responding well to President Joe Biden leaving Americans behind in Afghanistan, they’re not responding well to Joe Biden gifting the Taliban billions of dollars, they’re not responding well to inflation, and gas prices and war with Russia over Ukraine. They’re not responding well to the crisis at the border and the fentanyl epidemic and illegal immigration and MS-13 and sex trafficking," Presler said. "So they’re responding by registering to vote at their current address."