Amber Rose addresses Trump and RNC delegates: ‘This is where I belong.’

MILWAUKEE — Introduced on stage as “Amber Rose from South Philadelphia,” the Philadelphia-born model, author, and TV personality, told delegates at the Republican National Convention Monday night that MAGA world is where she belongs.

“I let go of my fear of judgment of being misunderstood, of getting judged by the left and I put my red hat on, too,” Rose, who is also known for her past relationship with Kanye West, told the crowd.

Rose spoke toward the end of the opening night of the Milwaukee four-day GOP gathering for party business and celebrations. Her remarks came shortly after former President Donald Trump made a theatrical surprise visit to the convention, wearing white gauze over his ear where a would-be assassin shot him on Saturday in Butler, Pa.

Trump entered the packed Fiserv Forum as Lee Greenwood sang his “God Bless the USA” live, and was greeted by roaring applause before sitting in a VIP section to hear Rose’s remarks.

“No matter your political background, the best chance we have to give our babies a better life is to elect Donald Trump president of the United States,” Rose, a mother of two, said.

The theme for Monday was “Making America Wealthy Again,” and Rose argued the economy was stronger under Trump’s leadership.

She was the first Pennsylvanian to address the crowd and the only celebrity on a list of about a dozen speakers, including three Black Republican members of Congress, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds and John James, who also appealed to Black voters.

Support for President Joe Biden among Black and Latino voters has fallen, and Trump has gained with both voting blocs, polls show. It’s a phenomenon particularly prevalent in large cities, like Philadelphia.

Trump’s targeted outreach to Black voters in Philadelphia has had mixed results. He held a rally at Temple University in June attended by a largely white crowd, though a higher concentration of Black people were seated in the section behind him, making those supporters visible on the televised live stream. One of his surrogates, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, was criticized for comments that seemed to invoke nostalgia for the Jim Crow era at a cognac and cigars event in the city last month. And Trump drew scrutiny from Black leaders in Philadelphia after comments he made about migrants taking away “Black jobs,” at the first presidential debate.

Biden’s campaign has highlighted those pitfalls and pushed back on Trump’s appeal within the Black community. “Black voters have the most to lose this election,” Biden-Harris 2024 Black Media Director Jasmine Harris said in a release the campaign sent out Friday, calling Trump “a racist who has promised to be a dictator on ‘day one’ – and fully intends on utilizing the most powerful position in the world to make life harder for Black America.”

Rose was born and raised at Broad and Ellsworth Streets in South Philadelphia. Before moving to New York to pursue modeling, Rose said she believed that she never belonged in Philly.

“I always felt bigger than the city was. It wasn’t big enough for me,” she shared on Revolt’s Drink Champs podcast in 2017, and said that she came from an area where people “aren’t traditionally attractive.” This comment sparked a lot of online criticism, before Rose issued an apology.

She came to prominence in 2008 as a music video model. Then, in 2009, she signed a deal with Ford Models and in 2016, she debuted The Amber Rose Show on VH1. She published a self-help book How to Be a Bad Bitch and organized a “SlutWalk,” in Los Angeles “to combat women’s equality issues.”

She’s also known for two high-profile relationships, first with West and then Wiz Khalifa, the latter of whom she was married to.

Rose was critical of Trump in 2016, calling him “such an idiot,” after she was asked in an interview with The Cut about a disparaging comment he made about then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “He’s so weird. I really hope he’s not president,” she said then.

But she endorsed Trump this year, and elaborated on her change of heart in an interview on Lara Trump’s podcast.

“I’m a single mother of two. I’m an American, I was born in Philadelphia. And for me, Donald Trump is the epitome of an alpha male,” said Rose. “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.”

She also spoke about her family’s support for Trump in Philadelphia, pointing to her friends’ and family’s attendance at his rally at the Liacouras Center last month.

“They got to take pictures with him, and so yeah, I talk to people in Philly all the time,” Rose said. “Everyone I know is voting for Donald Trump … Philly needs Donald Trump.”

In her speech on Monday, Rose said her father was the first person close to her who supported Trump, and at first, she challenged him. “I believed the leftwing propaganda that Donald Trump was a racist,” Rose said.

She said she did “research,” watching videos of Trump rallies and speaking with his supporters.

“And that’s when it hit me,” she said. “These are my people. This is where I belong.”

Staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.