Melania Trump, who has been absent from her husband’s 2024 presidential campaign, hosted a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans – a pro-Trump LGBTQ+ conservative group. The event happened at Mar-a-Lago and had raised $1 million leading up to it.
In a rare occasion, Melania also spoke spoke to Fox News Digital before the event, saying, “We must come together to create a society where equality is the everyday experience of every American. Individual freedom unites us and establishes our American way.”
“We must nurture and protect the seeds of liberty,” she continued. “When successful, America becomes a place where everyone can practice their beliefs, share new ideas, and express individualism – this is when we are at our best.”
She also commended LCR for being “grounded in respect,” and said that “based on this core value, people thrive and coexist in a world where all are respected and celebrated.”
There has been little information about what the former first lady said at the event. One video on X shows the beginning of her speech, where she expresses her excitement to be in a room filled with “folks, friends, and allies who share the common goal of promoting equality for all.”
One co-host, Bill White, shared a detailed account of the event, calling it “the launch of the single most important and unprecedented gay and lesbian voter outreach initiative of any Republican presidential nominee in US political history.”
He added, “Her remarks were perfectly on point and delivered with elegance and grace as always. Everyone was honored to be with her and in her presence. She was fantastic and spent time talking with everyone about this critically important issue.”
White then went on to describe Donald Trump as “the most pro gay president in American history,” and declared him the “best choice for ALL Americans.”
It should be noted that Donald Trump is arguably the most anti-LGBTQ+ president of all time. A 2021 study found found that LGBTQ+ people experienced a greater increase in extreme mental distress during the Trump presidency due to his extensive anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
Previous studies have shown that calls to Trans Lifeline quadrupled after Trump’s attacks on transgender people, and trans teen suicide attempts may have risen due to his tweets. Areas that supported Trump experienced more reports of school bullying.
However, Grenell – a co-host – echoed White’s sentiment. He told Fox News Digital that gay conservatives “made the most progress when Donald Trump and Melania Trump moved into the White House.”
“Gays and lesbians are no longer reflexively leftist,” he continued. “The gay left continues to try and convince America’s gays and lesbians that they don’t have personal freedoms – it’s absurd.” He claimed Democrats are “shamelessly defining support for trans kids as a litmus test for supporting gay rights, and it infuriates gay conservatives.”
"Gay, Inc, and the far-Left activists who control Gay, Inc are spending a lot of money to divide gays in America," Grenell said. "They tell young people they must distance themselves from the rest of society because they are oppressed in America. They work hard to make gays angry, strange, segregated, and marginalized. They want different flags, pronouns, bakeries, and bathrooms. It’s insane."
Grenell also shared a picture of himself with Melania at the event and called her "an American treasure."
LGBTQ Nation opinion writer John Gallagher wrote wrote earlier this month that Melania Trump’s participation in the LCR fundraiser suggests that the organization is becoming largely irrelevant.
"It’s difficult to determine what's more surprising about the news: Melania’s appearance on the campaign trail or the fact that the Log Cabin Republicans still exist," he stated.
"In the era of Trump, LCR is just a superficial feature, an opportunity for members to believe themselves to be part of the MAGA universe… But in general, the new LCR holds LGBTQ+ individuals in the same disdain that the Trump universe does."
He concluded, "There will always be a few people from every group that MAGA hates that will still desire to be part of it and embrace it. But that doesn’t mean that the MAGA world will hate you any less."
