Apr 8
Melania Trump Scheduled for Log Cabin Republicans Event at Mar-a-Lago
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Melania Trump, wife of former president Donald Trump, will be making a rare campaign-related appearance at a Log Cabin Republicans fundraising event slated to take place at Mar-a-Lago in support of Trump's bid to regain the White House after having lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
CNN noted that the former first lady "has largely remained absent from the campaign trail, making only two formal public appearances for her husband's White House bid – the November 2022 kickoff for former President Donald Trump's campaign and an appearance with him in March to vote in the Florida presidential primary."
However, the news report added, the fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago "is expected to be largely behind closed doors and will likely still keep her out of the public eye."
CNN observed that "how frequently the former first lady will hit the campaign trail this year is entirely in her hands," quoting an insider as saying that Melania "is very decisive with these things and knows they have a lot of intended and unintended consequences."
The Log Cabin Republicans are a conservative group that support right-wing candidates while also advocating for LGBTQ+ equality.
Melania's appearance at the fundraiser follows a November, 2021 occasion at which, as EDGE reported at the time, "the Log Cabin Republicans honored the former first lady with their annual 'Spirit of Lincoln' award," and lionized her as an LGBTQ+ ally.
But that perception is not shared by all. As Pink News noted in 2021, while Melania "positioned herself as softer on such issues than the president, and once attempted to light up the White House in rainbow colors during Pride month, she never actually spoke out against her husband's overtly anti-LGBT+ policies."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
