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Photo: Christian Spicker / imago images
Rolland Roberts II wants to become US President.
But when the Republican publicly announced his candidacy, an incident and Robert's reaction to it distracted from his political appearance: the entrepreneur's pregnant wife, Rebecca Lea Roberts, collapsed during her husband's announcement speech.
A video shows Rebecca Lea Roberts staggering next to her husband and is only just able to be held by a security guard before she falls to the ground.
Other bystanders rush to the woman – her husband, on the other hand, only goes to her several seconds later.
Former US Attorney Ron Filipkowski tweeted: "Rollan Roberts II announces this week that he is running for President after his five-month pregnant wife passed out.
She was fine and Roberts was obviously very concerned.
Great start for Rollan Roberts 2024! « Other Twitter users also expressed their horror and displeasure at Robert's hesitation to help his wife.
Wife defends her husband
A statement by Roberts' campaign team to Newsweek said: "Rollan Roberts' top priority is his wife and family.
Running for President was a family decision and his wife's health, pregnancy and the birth of their first child were important factors in the decision."
Rebecca Lea Roberts defended her husband's reaction, saying in a statement to Newsweek that during his speech he couldn't see what happened when she fell.
"The unjust criticism and outrage at my husband's response time is extremely annoying." Watching the entire video, one would see "he moves towards me within seconds of seeing what happened."
The video of Roberts' speech, posted on his campaign website, has his wife's breakdown edited out.
First she is shown standing, then she suddenly sits on a chair.
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