Why is Amber Rose speaking at the Republican National Convention?

Published

2024-07-15 19:32

7:32

July 15, 2024

pm

Amber Rose, a model, author and television personality, spoke at the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee from the perspective of a mother.

“I’m a mother. My whole world revolves around providing for my children, keeping them safe and giving them an opportunity for a better life. … I’m here tonight to tell you, no matter your political background, that the best chance we have to give our babies a better life is to elect Donald Trump president,” Rose said. “A vote for Donald Trump is a vote to put money back in our pockets and good food back on our kids’ plates.”

Rose, whose full name is Amber Rose Levonchuck, has said that economic security and safety were the main reasons she, a single mother of two young children, chose to back the former president. 

“For me, Donald Trump is the epitome of an alpha male. He’s there to protect, provide, make sure the citizens of the U.S. are in a good economy, protecting us. I feel protected by Donald Trump. … I feel safer with him in office,” Rose told Lara Trump, the Republican National Committee co-chair and candidate’s daughter-in-law, in a podcast interview.  “If you want the prices to go down, if you want inflation to go down, if you want gas prices to go down, if you want to feel protected in your neighborhood with your children, if you’re American and you’re here and you’re born here, Donald Trump is for you. He doesn’t care if you’re Black, White, gay. He does not care. It’s not about that. Let’s stop the race baiting. It’s not about that. He’s for the American people period. He’s for your children. He’s for women. He’s for all of us.”

The comments are a turnaround from Rose’s criticism of Trump early in his presidency. When responding to comments he made to The Cut magazine in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was only being supported by “non-hot” celebrities, Rose said, “He’s just such an idiot. He’s so weird. I really hope he’s not president.” 

In her speech, Rose acknowledged that she originally believed Trump was a racist before conducting her own research on the candidate at the push of her father, a military veteran and Trump supporter.

“I watched all the rallies, and I started meeting so many of you,: his red- hat-wearing supporters. I realized Donald Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re Black, White, gay or straight. It’s all love,” Rose said. “I’ve never felt more free and more love for my country than I do now.”

Rose previously had high-profile relationships with rappers Wiz Khalifa and Kanye West. She initially announced her support for former President Donald Trump in May via Instagram and X in a photo posing with him and First Lady Melania Trump. Since then, she’s shared a host of photos and videos on social media expressing her support for Trump and his run at a nonconsecutive second term as president, including this one shared after the Saturday shooting at a Trump campaign rally in her home state of Pennsylvania. 

In 2015, Rose launched the Amber Rose SlutWalk, an event meant to protest gender inequality, sexual and social injustice, and derogatory labeling — and  empower women and LGBTQ+ people.

Some conservatives have voiced concerns about her speaking at the Republican National Convention with  personal causes that seem contradictory to the party’s stances. Maria Peiro, a former candidate for the House of Representatives in Florida’s 27th congressional district, took to X to express her disdain.

“Now, under the total Trump takeover of the RNC, the GOP will be represented at the convention by Amber Rose who believes in ‘empowering the LGBTQ+ community,’ ‘ending sexual, social injustice, derogatory labeling, and gender inequality.’ Conservatives who voted for Trump in the primary, how do you like being represented by a woke, pro-trans, socialist at the GOP convention,” Peiro posted on X.