Matt Walsh Blasts Amber Rose’s Appearance at the RNC
Right-wing mouthpiece Matt Walsh is furious at the GOP for allowing rapper Amber Rose to speak at its national convention.
Right-wing pundit Matt Walsh blasted the Republicans’ decision to grant a speaking slot on the first night of the Republican National Convention to model, rapper, and television personality Amber Rose.
Walsh, a far-right influencer with his own podcast who has become known for his doctrinaire social conservatism, attacked the choice of Rose as a messenger for the party.
He noted that the bisexual, biracial influencer has previously expressed support for abortion, has an OnlyFans page, and was the founder of the Los Angeles chapter of the “SlutWalk” protest march, which calls for an end to “rape culture.”
“The RNC gives a primetime speaking slot to a pro-abortion feminist and self-proclaimed slut with a face tattoo whose only claim to fame is having sex with rappers. Truly an embarrassment. Not a single voter will be mobilized by this person,” Walsh complained on X.
The RNC gives a primetime speaking slot to a pro-abortion feminist and self-proclaimed slut with a face tattoo whose only claim to fame is having sex with rappers. Truly an embarrassment. Not a single voter will be mobilized by this person.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 16, 2024
Walsh attacked the party’s decision-making, noting that there have been multiple examples of celebrities who have backed Donald Trump, only to be revealed as not being sufficiently ideologically conservative in his view.
Walsh attacked Rose over an interview in which she praised the Satanic Temple, a non-theistic organization and religious movement that promotes civil rights, for “helping a lot of people” get abortions.
“If it is outrageous and offensive to suggest that a person such as [Rose] is perhaps not fit to be a prime time Republican speaker, then conservatism as a movement is in even worse shape than I thought,” Walsh wrote on X. “In conclusion: come on, guys. What the hell.”
The right-wing pundit later replied to another X user, referring erroneously to Rose as a “porn star.”
“Trump has just reached mythic status by defying death and surviving an assassination attempt and the GOP decides that the best next move is to have him sit and listen to a porn star talk about diversity. Brilliant move. Thanks guys.”
Trump has just reached mythic status by defying death and surviving an assassination attempt and the GOP decides that the best next move is to have him sit and listen to a porn star talk about diversity. Brilliant move. Thanks guys. https://t.co/zcgDtPKsWN
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 16, 2024
Walsh continued to fret about what giving a prime speaking spot to Rose meant for the conservative ideological movement.
“You guys can get mad at me for saying it but the first day of the convention was totally absurd and a very bad omen of things to come,” he wrote. “Trump has never had more momentum or good will and the RNC decided to use that to push a message of diversity and inclusivity rather than using it to advance anything resembling a conservative agenda. I call it as I see it and that’s what I saw.”
Rose’s appearance at the RNC was eyebrow-raising for many on both sides of the political spectrum, largely due to Rose’s bisexuality, her advocacy for bodily autonomy, and the perceived liberal slant of her social media followers.
For liberals, Rose’s stances on some issues seem counterintuitive to the larger Republican Party’s embrace of the far-right Project 2025, which calls for rolling back access to abortion services and contraceptives.
Additionally, some of Rose’s social media followers also noted that Trump has a history of making disparaging or lewd comments about women, and, last year, was found liable by a civil jury for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
In her speech at the convention, Rose, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, disparaged the news media for what conservatives believe are unfavorable portrayals of Trump.
Introducing herself as a model, entrepreneur, and mother, Rose sought to find common ground with Republican base voters. She cast Donald Trump’s election to the White House as the best way to ensure “a better country for our children.”
“[T]he truth is that the media has lied to us about Donald Trump. I know this because for a long time I believed those lies,” Rose said. “So I’m here to set the record straight. The first person I knew who supported Donald Trump was my father. I was shocked. My entire family is racially diverse, and I believe the left-wing propaganda that Donald Trump was a racist.
“My father said, ‘No, he’s not Amber. What are you talking about?’ And when I insisted, he said, ‘Prove it.’ So to prove my father wrong, I did my research and looked into all things Donald Trump…. I realized Donald Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re Black, white, gay, or straight. It’s all love. And that’s when it hit me: These are my people. This is where I belong.
“The Left told me to hate Trump and even worse, to hate the other side, the people who support him,” she concluded. “When you cut through the lies, you realize the truth. American families were better when Donald Trump was president. We were safer, wealthier, and stronger. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote to put money back in our pockets and good food on our kids’ plates. Yes. Or as Trump would say, ‘It’s a vote to make America great again.'”
On the second day of the convention, Rose appeared in a music video with pro-Trump rapper Forgiato Blow, who rapped and sang about his support for Trump to the bass line of Vanilla Ice’s hit “Ice, Ice Baby.”
“Trump, Trump, baby,” Blow raps in the video as Rose appears next to him, lip-syncing and dancing while wearing a gold “Make America Great Again” chain.
Republicans and pundits have publicly speculated that Rose’s celebrity may be enough to convince some of her 23 million Instagram followers and nearly 4 million followers on X to support the president, with the hope of bringing independents who may not previously have been political, younger voters, and Black voters into the Republican fold.
But the music video appeared to be poorly received by some people on social media, with one user calling it “cringeworthy.”
“It’s like they wanted DJ Khaled and Doja lol this is so bad,” wrote another.
“The Russians do their fascist influencer videos better,” wrote one X user, linking to a tweet about a music video by Russian military pop star Shaman, in which the artist sings an anthem espousing the greatness of Russia.
Transgender activist and journalist Erin Reed wrote that the video was “embarrassing” and that the RNC audience “was silent afterwards.”
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