Renowned Hollywood star and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone introduced President-elect Donald Trump at an America First Policy Institute gala hosted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday, comparing him to one of Stallone’s most enduring on-screen characters, Rocky Balboa.
In his introduction, the Rambo star described Trump as a “mythical character” and made a reference to the Oscar-winning film Rocky, which tells the story of the titular boxer’s underdog journey of perseverance and determination.
“When I did Rocky, if you remember, the first image was a picture of Jesus, and it says, ‘Resurrection A.C. Club.’ I found a church that had been converted to a boxing ring,” he said. “So the image pans down from Jesus onto Rocky being hit.”
“And in that moment he was a chosen person, and that’s how I began the journey—something was going to happen. This man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives, just like President Trump,” he added, per Newsweek.
Continuing, he said, “We are in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology, and this individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off. So I’m in awe. And I’ll just say this, and I mean it: When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like.”
He concluded: “Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations.”
The “Tulsa King” star did not openly endorse Trump during his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, but he did say he liked Trump as a person.
“I love Donald Trump,” he told Variety in 2016. “He’s a great Dickensian character. You know what I mean? There are certain people like Arnold [Schwarzenegger], Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life. But I don’t know how that translates to running the world.”
The actor told the outlet in 2019 that he did not vote in 2016 and did not identify as a Republican.
“I didn’t vote for anybody. I didn’t like anybody,” he said, adding about the 2020 election cycle, “I want the best person to win, and I’m sitting back on this one.”
“Even though everyone assumes I am so hardcore right, it’s not true,” he continued. “I won’t go to fundraisers. I don’t do anything. I’m just an old filmmaker.”
In 2018, Stallone visited the White House and met Trump in the Oval Office alongside boxers Lennox Lewis and Deontay Wilder as the Republican president issued an official pardon to boxing legend Jack Johnson.
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Following the 2024 election, an undated photo surfaced showing Stallone posing inside what appeared to be a room at Mar-a-Lago. On Tuesday, @patriottakes, a user on X (formerly Twitter), shared the photo on the platform.
Years before the post, Stallone had denied being a member of the exclusive club. In 2021, the ‘Rambo’ franchise star shared a screenshot of a headline stating that he had joined Mar-a-Lago and included a comment in the Instagram caption: “I would like to say to everyone that this never happened. This is just not true. It NEVER ever happened..I mean no disrespect to anyone, I’m simply not a member .. So Keep Punching Folks.”
Michelle Bega, Stallone’s publicist at the time, denied the claims. She clarified the reasons for the screen star’s presence at the resort, which Trump has owned since 1985.
“Sylvester Stallone has never been and is not now a member of Mar-a-Lago as has been falsely reported,” Bega stated. “He was an invited dinner guest at the Club but is not himself a member there.”
