Brian Becker was a Party for Socialism and Liberation activist. On 16 December 2016, he gave a speech to fellow communists in Washington DC about Donald Trump and the "coming war against labor and social & civil rights," telling the audience about the divisions within the broader anti-Trump movement involving the US Democratic Party supporters, those who did not vote or voted for Bernie Sanders, or socialists who voted for Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear's independent presidential campaign (which received more votes than any other socialist campaign since 1976).