What to Know
One of Survivor‘s most notorious past winners, Rob Mariano — or, more commonly known by his nickname, Boston Rob — is coming under fire after making a visit to a controversial landmark. Earlier this week, Rob shared photos of himself at the White House, and both fans and his fellow Survivor alum are really struggling with the fact that he visited Donald Trump‘s home base… not to mention what that might mean about Rob’s political beliefs.
It all started when Rob shared photos from his trip on Instagram.
In his caption, Rob explained that he had been chaperoning a field trip that his daughter, Isabetta, was going on: “Made some amazing memories with my #IsabettaRose on her class trip to Washington, DC.”
He added other photos from the visit, including a plaque dedicated to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, the Lincoln Memorial, and also a picture of him and his daughter sitting at Johnson’s desk.
Of course, plenty of people who don’t agree with the Trump administration’s policies still visit Washington, D.C. every day, but seeing Rob publicize it at a time like this was more than some people could take.
Fellow Survivor stars have already spoken out.
As one user on Reddit pointed out, Rob was quickly called out in the comments of his post by two fellow Survivor contestants, Natalie Anderson and Carolyn Wiger.
Natalie wrote, “Immediately no,” while Carolyn added, “Girrrrrllll” along with an eyeball emoji.
They weren’t done there, though. Later, Carolyn posted a screenshot of Us Weekly‘s coverage of their comments, tagging Natalie and adding, “We don’t like Trump.” Natalie added her own comment to the post, writing, “This Shouldn’t be NEWS, but HERE WE ARE. Proud of where I stand and what I stand for!”
Fans aren’t very happy with him, either.
The comments on Rob’s Instagram post are pretty brutal, and it doesn’t seem like his fans are willing to hold back to avoid hurting his feelings. Some people even lamented the fact that Rob is a dad to four daughters including Isabetta, who he was with at the field trip.
“It disgusts me that a man with four teenage daughters would think there’s anything cool about the Oval Office right now,” one person wrote. “There were all kinds of ways you could have portrayed your visit that didn’t tacitly signal your support. I have to think that someone with your strategic mind knew what you were doing here.”
Another commenter took a different approach, referencing the U.S.’ recent strikes on Iran: “Enjoy the time with your daughter. This administration murdered 160 children at their school in Iran last week. Those parents won’t get the same chance.”
So far, Rob hasn’t appeared to respond to the backlash. Maybe he’s actually taking the time to consider why it might have been harmful for some people to see his post? We can always hope for the best case scenario…
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