A float that appears to take inspiration from “Johnny The Walrus,” a book written by Daily Wire host and children’s author Matt Walsh, won first place at a local parade in Alaska, only for one of the judges to recoil in horror online.
The competition was held as part of the Golden Day festival in Fairbanks, Alaska, which hosts the largest parade in Alaska. Local school board candidate Michael Humphrey entered a giant inflatable Walrus into the parade’s political float competition, with a campaign sticker on its side and “Johnny” plastered on the front.
After the decision, one of the judges took to social media to respond to nascent outrage.
“So it turns out that the best political float was an anti-trans float. The judges had no idea. We had two floats to choose from for political. You know what I hate? Hateful people,” the judge tweeted. “We both feel sick about it and especially on how it reflects on our community to those who don’t know that the judges DID NOT HAVE CONTEXT.”
The book “Johnny The Walrus” tells the tale of a spirited young man who imagines himself as a walrus and then is pressured to medically transition into his fantasy by “the internet people.” The book was published in 2022 and quickly became a bestseller, specifically in Amazon’s LGBTQ Books category, which was the subject of much hand-wringing.
Humphrey, a marine veteran, self described conservative Christian and father of six, has pledged on his campaign page to “[Protect children by stopping the spread of radical gender ideology” and “[create] opportunities for more parental involvement in school.”
“Please help get the word out about this disgusting candidate and ensure he does not get elected,” one anonymous Facebook user demanded. “He is running against incumbent Tim Doran.”
Walsh, for his part, seemed quite pleased when he became aware of the controversy.
“This is awesome,” he tweeted.
This is awesome. A school board candidate in Fairbanks won first place in a local parade for his Johnny the Walrus float. The judges were libs who only realized after the fact that the float was based on my children’s book, which caused massive meltdowns
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 17, 2023