Notorious local social media troll, paid $1,500 by Democratic opponent who had pledged to run a “positive, ideas-based campaign”, posted racist and antisemitic slander.

COTO DE CAZA, CA — Esther Kim-Varet, the frontrunner Democratic candidate to flip California’s 40th Congressional district, today condemned opposing Democrat Lisa Ramirez (a resident of the Santa Ana gated community Rocking Horse Ridge in the CA-47 district) for paying notorious Orange County social media troll Briana Walker $1,500 to attack the credibility of Kim-Varet with baseless racist defamation. These posts, which as of this release are still published on X, do not disclose that Walker was paid by the Ramirez campaign. With shocking hypocrisy, Ramirez, whose first campaign video promised "accountability, responsibility, and integrity” had one week prior to her surrogate’s posts published a new video moralizing that “voters are tired of politics as usual that too often means negative attacks” and calling on her opponents in the race to refrain from “shaming and name calling.”

According to a newly filed FEC disclosure, the Ramirez campaign committee paid Walker $1,500 for “communications consulting.” Walker is a notorious Orange County social media personality who has previously been hired as an “astroturfing” antagonist by other OC candidates. Walker drew controversy during the 2024 cycle by insisting that then-State Senator Dave Min shouldn’t take credit for banning gun shows at the OC Fairgrounds, despite the fact that Min (who like Kim-Varet is Korean-American) had authored the legislation. It was later disclosed that Walker was on the payroll of Min’s opponent. Ramirez, whose own X account has a steadily declining follower count currently at 228, sought to utilize the reach of Walker’s 15,000 X followers in order to boost her local reputation and undermine Kim-Varet’s credibility.

Last Monday, Walker posted a screenshot and comment (on her X account @InMinivanHell) defaming Esther Kim-Varet as ostensibly insensitive to the LGBTQ community for posing with a Chick-Fil-A mascot at a 5K charity walk. However, Walker’s absurd claims were entirely baseless as the screenshot she posted as evidence is from the account of an entirely different and unrelated woman named Esther Kim. Despite her paid mandate to harass and discredit Esther Kim-Varet, Walker apparently could not differentiate the photos of another Korean-American woman (or else intended the misidentification as a racist dog whistle).

The same day, Walker reposted an antisemitic attack on Kim-Varet from an X account that Walker’s account frequently interacts with, seeking to discredit Kim-Varet, whose husband and children are Jewish, as a “mega zionist”. Walker replied to her own repost, praising Ramirez for “not taking AIPAC money.” AIPAC has neither endorsed nor contributed to Kim-Varet nor any other Democratic candidate in the CA-40 race.

In a third post, Walker inappropriately shared to X a screenshot from Kim-Varet’s Instagram account that includes a photograph of Kim-Varet’s young daughter, along with a defamatory caption.

Today, Kim-Varet calls on Ramirez to issue a public apology and disavowal, cut ties with Walker, and rise above duplicitous slander.

“Not all Asians look alike. Trump has sadly normalized weaponization of social media to race-bait and ‘other’ political opponents” said Esther Kim-Varet. “Presumably Ramirez and her campaign are aware of all these despicable posts since Walker is on their payroll. Unbelievably, Walker also trolled with photos of my daughter in it. If Ramirez wants to debate policy, that’s fair game – but the use of her limited campaign funds for racist slander against a fellow Democrat is disqualifying hypocrisy.  CA-40 voters already have gaslighting incumbents Ken Calvert and Young Kim representing them in Congress. To win voters’ trust and flip this critical swing district, Democrats must not only preach but also practice accountability, responsibility, and integrity.”

New polling shows that Esther Kim-Varet (whose campaign has more than 14X the cash on hand of all other Democrats in the CA-40 race) is projected to clear the open primary by a wide margin, advancing to a statistical toss-up contest against Ken Calvert or Young Kim in the November general election.

Kim-Varet’s campaign has received a string of high-profile endorsements, most recently from Rep. Jasmine Crockett, as well as state and local leaders, current and former members of Congress, and national organizations including the Congressional AAPI Caucus PAC. With Kim-Varet’s viral social media reach of over 30 million people in the past month alone, and nationwide support from over 47,000 small dollar contributions to date, her campaign is poised to retire not one but two corrupt MAGA incumbents from Congress this November.

###

California’s newly drawn 40th Congressional District, spanning portions of Riverside County and Orange County, is one of the most consequential U.S. House district battlegrounds in the nation. CA-40 includes the cities of Rancho Santa Margarita, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and Canyon Lake as well as parts of Mission Viejo, Orange, Anaheim and Corona.

First-time candidate Esther Kim-Varet has raised over $2.5 million to date, powered by over 47,000 individual small dollar contributions from across the nation. Esther is not a politician — she is a working mom of two young kids, running for Congress to restore the American Dream for all. In Congress, Esther will combat corruption, defend democracy, and fight for the middle class, small businesses, public education, and healthcare access.