{"id":194230,"date":"2026-02-26T04:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194230\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T04:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:15:08","slug":"beefcake-ca-legislator-racked-up-350k-on-campaign-credit-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194230\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Beefcake’ CA legislator racked up $350K on campaign credit card"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles state legislator Isaac Bryan<\/a> spent a whopping $349,108 on his credit card, with most of the money going on naval-gazing Instagram and Facebook posts \u2013 which sources believe is a bold move to attempt to run for a higher office.<\/p>\n

Bryan, who serves in the state Assembly, spent more than $200,000 on clout-chasing social media posts, according to The Post\u2019s review of political ad spending and campaign records filed earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan spent considerable campaign money in 2025 on thirsty Instagram posts. Instagram\/@ib2_real<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old appears to have banked hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from special interests in 2023 that allowed him to spend $130,000 more than he raised last year, state records show.<\/p>\n

Many of the charges billed to Bryan\u2019s Capital One account went toward sponsored Facebook and Instagram posts that included pictures and videos of him staring longingly (and shirtless) at the ocean with a dog in his lap, flexing (again shirtless), shooting hoops, and doing yoga.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan strikes a pose as he seeks more Instagram followers. ib2_real<\/p>\n

The lefty legislator \u2014 who has called for defunding the police<\/a> and abolishing ICE<\/a> \u2014 tagged some posts as a form of self-healing with syrupy hashtags while begging people to hit that follow button.<\/p>\n

But it appears Bryan\u2019s thirst traps could have an ulterior motive beyond just boosting Bryan\u2019s Instagram follower count to 176K. He may be hoping these new followers will propel him to higher office, perhaps all the way to Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Bryan\u2019s district is in roughly the same area as the district currently held by octogenarian Rep. Maxine Waters, who\u2019s seeking another term despite turning 88 years old this summer.<\/p>\n

Rep. Maxine Waters will turn 88 this summer as she seeks another term in Congress. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s smart if he wants to raise his profile, which he does because he\u2019s an ambitious guy in his career,\u201d a Democratic political consultant told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a following is very important in LA, because in this neck of the woods, it\u2019s a very dense place with a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as it\u2019s paid for with the right funds, I don\u2019t see any problem with it,\u201d the political consultant told The Post. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a little beefcake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryan could also be receiving a personal financial benefit from the campaign funds that boost his profile.<\/p>\n

State law allows candidates to retain mileage credits and\/or points<\/a> for credit cards used for campaigns. With nearly $350,000 in charges last year, Bryan\u2019s campaign could conceivably be increasing his social media reach while also fattening his wallet.<\/p>\n

In the last three months of 2025, Bryan\u2019s campaign spent more than $98,500 on Capital One charges that included a trip to Japan, numerous Uber rides, fancy meals, and political donations.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan is a developing a \u201cbeefcake\u201d reputation through his campaign spending. Instagram\/@ib2_real<\/p>\n

Bryan\u2019s frequent posts and political hedging have led to criticism.<\/p>\n

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Demetra Kaye, a YouTube host who recently criticized Bryan\u2019s lack of follow-through on reparations legislation, called him a \u201csellout\u201d in a video for the African Diaspora News Channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never met him personally, but he just gives off charlatan vibes,\u201d Kaye told The Post. \u201cThat\u2019s probably true with most politicians, but with him it\u2019s so sinister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryan did not respond to requests for comment, leaving it unclear what the strategy is behind the state legislator\u2019s clout-chasing social media posts and any potential plans to run for higher office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles state legislator Isaac Bryan spent a whopping $349,108 on his credit card, with most of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,21628,1752,7644,47,13,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-194230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-campaigns","12":"tag-congress","13":"tag-instagram","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}