Sylvester Stallone calls President-elect Trump ‘second George Washington’ during AFPI Gala introduction

Actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone introduced President-elect Donald Trump at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) Gala on Thursday with a short and sweet speech in which he called Trump the “second George Washington.”

The “Rocky” actor was the final speaker of the night – only talking for about two minutes – before the president-elect took the stage at Mar-a-Lago.

When starting off his speech, Stallone began speaking about his “Rocky” character and how he was “going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives, just like President Trump.”

“We are in the presence of a really mythical character. Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe,” he said.

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He continued on by comparing Trump to George Washington and how his dedication to America changed the world. 

“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. Guess what? We’ve got the second George Washington. Congratulations!” Stallone said before Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” began playing.

After a brief pause, Trump walked onto the stage to Stallone’s introduction and shook his hand while saying a few words to the actor.

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President-elect Trump was welcomed to the podium at the AFPI Gala by actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

While Stallone has stayed pretty quiet about his personal politics over the years and admitted to not voting in the 2016 and 2020 elections, he did tell Variety magazine in 2016 that he liked Trump.

“I love Donald Trump,” he said at the time. “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 “Rocky” actor told Variety magazine in 2016 that he loved Donald Trump and described him as “bigger than life,” but said he wasn’t sure how that translated to “running the world.” (Ryan Emberley/Getty Images for Netflix)

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Stallone did not publicly endorse Trump during the 2024 election cycle, but he did answer a FaceTime call from Fox News’ Brett Baier in October and encouraged Pennsylvania voters to “keep punching.”

His speech at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday marks the first time he has publicly shared his thoughts surrounding a Trump presidency.