Ever since his 2016 campaign, former President Trump has struggled to attract support from high-profile musicians and entertainers — and the lineup for tonight’s convention opener indicates that the current political season hasn’t been any easier for him in that regard.
The featured musical guest for the RNC’s opening night is country singer Chris Janson, who also performed for the Republican gathering eight years ago.
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Janson is not a particularly well-known artist among mainstream audiences: The highest position he has ever reached on the Billboard Hot 100 chart is No. 41, twice (in 2015 for his song “Buy Me a Boat” and again in 2020 for the tune “Done”), while Buy Me A Boat went to No. 18 on the Billboard 200 album chart nine years ago.
Also on tonight’s docket: Amber Rose, a model/reality TV star/influencer/erstwhile rapper and former romantic partner of one-time Trump ally Kanye West. Back in 2016, she gave an interview to The Cut in which she called Trump an “idiot,” expressing a fervent desire that he not be elected.
Since then, however, she seems to have done an about-face, although she has not yet publicly articulated a reason for her switch. In May, she posted a photo of herself on Instagram posing with the former president and Melania Trump. In a video published on social media last month, she cooed, "MAGA, baby!" while showing off Trump-related swag.
This story originally appeared as part of NPR Network live coverage of the RNC.
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