A fundraiser for President Donald
Trump's reelection campaign hosted by Stephen Ross at his home in the
Hamptons raised more than $13 million for the president on Friday.
The billionaire's fundraiser spurred a
backlash on social media, with out actors Billy Eichner and Wilson
Cruz calling on people to cancel their Equinox and SoulCycle
memberships. Both luxury exercise chains are owned by a conglomerate
chaired by Ross.
Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery)
started a Change.org
petition calling on members to cancel their memberships to the
gyms, arguing that they had duped the LGBT community into believing
that they were affirming and supportive of it.
“We joined [Equinox] because we
believed it shared our values,” Cruz wrote. “There is NO WAY that
we as a community can continue to support this business if you are
actively supporting an administration that puts us in danger and
works towards treating us like second-class citizens, and worse yet,
subhuman.”
On Friday, Trump responded to the
backlash.
“Stephen Ross is a great friend of
mine,” he told reporters. “He's a very successful guy. We were
competitors but friends in real estate in New York in the old days.
He's a great guy. He is, by the way, probably more inclined to be a
liberal, if you want to know the truth. But he likes me.”
“I think … the controversy makes
Steve Ross hotter,” he added.