Scott Wiener cashes in after humiliating video being chased from San Francisco trans march

California state Sen. Scott Wiener’s campaign received a major fundraising boost after a viral confrontation at San Francisco’s Trans March that saw the Democratic congressional candidate heckled, chased and surrounded by protesters over his stance on the war in Gaza.

Federal campaign finance records filed Wednesday show he hauled in more than $127,600 from roughly 1,090 individual contributions during the four days after footage of the June 26 confrontation spread across social media, the San Francisco Standard reported.

The fundraising surge came after video showed Wiener, who is openly gay and has long been one of California’s most prominent champions of LGBTQ+ rights, being confronted by a protester who initially praised his record on transgender issues before accusing him of failing Palestinians in Gaza.

“You’ve been terrible, you’ve been terrible on Gaza,” the protester shouted in the viral clip. “You do not belong here anymore, Scott. And it breaks my f—ing heart.”

As the confrontation escalated, additional demonstrators surrounded the senator while one person held a middle finger inches from his face as Wiener walked away without engaging. The protester who shared the footage later claimed on X: “Scott Wiener showed up to the trans march and for the first time we kicked his ass out.”

Another protester was heard telling Wiener he “stopped being queer the moment he started supporting Israel.”

The incident quickly exploded online, drawing widespread attention well beyond California. Coverage appeared in national and international outlets, including The New York Times, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked about the confrontation during an interview with Fox News.

“I think there’s obviously a very anti-Israel and anti-American wave, and I think they’re connected,” Netanyahu said after watching the footage. “These people let themselves be swept by these irrational protests, and this very toxic ideology. I don’t think it lasts.”

Critics of the confrontation described it as “menacing,” “humiliating,” “bullying” and “appalling,” with supporters from around the country condemning the treatment of the senator.

The financial impact was almost immediate.

Wiener’s campaign had previously disclosed that the video prompted its largest single-day spike in donors since he launched his congressional bid, but it had not revealed how much money had been raised.

“I’ve just had a tidal wave, an outpouring of support,” Wiener told The Standard shortly after the incident.

According to his campaign’s analysis, 33.5% of the donations came from San Francisco residents, while 50.9% originated elsewhere in California and 15.6% came from donors outside the state.

Among those contributing after the video went viral were Anthropic engineer Wilson Berkow, who donated $999; developer Charles Gibson of TMG Partners, who gave $3,500; Berklee College of Music professor Kevin Block-Schwenk, who contributed $300; and Roomily founder Jill Lindenbaum, who donated $250.

The campaign also moved quickly to capitalize on the attention by sending fundraising text messages after the footage spread online.

The fundraising boost comes as Wiener battles San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in California’s heavily Democratic 11th Congressional District.

Both candidates advanced from the June primary, eliminating progressive rival Saikat Chakrabarti from the ballot. Chan, however, has continued to build momentum with the backing of Pelosi and recently raised another $100,000 during a fundraiser hosted by the former speaker.

Campaign finance filings show Chan raised just over $400,000 during the first six months of her campaign and currently has about $362,000 cash on hand, compared with approximately $1.2 million in Wiener’s campaign account.

The Gaza confrontation marked the latest twist in Wiener’s evolving position on the Israel-Hamas war.

Although the Jewish lawmaker had previously resisted describing Israel’s military campaign as genocide, he reversed course earlier this year.

“For those of you who saw the debate clip from last week, I want to clarify that I do believe Israel has committed genocide in Gaza,” Wiener said in January. “To me the Israeli government has tried to destroy Gaza and to push Palestinians out. And that qualifies as genocide.”

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