MAGA Relationships That Have An Even Bigger Age Gap Than You Thought

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Whether he wanted to or not, Donald Trump set quite the example for his colleagues by marrying a woman 24 years younger than him. In her 2024 memoir "Melania," Melania Trump recalled how her life was thrown in for a complete loop in her late 20s after her paths crossed with then-52-year-old Donald at a 1998 New York Fashion Week party. In a January 2016 Harper's Bazaar interview, she remembered being in awe of the future POTUS' "amazing sense of vitality" early on in their relationship.

While she was enjoying the process of getting to know Donald, the media had a field day coming up with unflattering nicknames for her due to their 2-decade age gap. "The gossip columns called me a 'gold digger,'" the first lady recalled in her memoir (via The Times) "I was already a thriving model when our paths crossed. I had earned my fortune and could easily have captured the attention of numerous celebrities if I had so desired." Melania directly addressed the people who called her a "gold digger" in a 1999 ABC interview, simply saying, "They don't know me." Moreover, she believed that the most beautiful things in her life weren't expensive physical objects. 

In 2005, the future first lady donned a wedding dress that left people scratching their heads and married the businessman. Similar to most people, our matchmaker believes that Melania and Donald's age gap isn't the biggest red flag in their marriage. Of course, it's more than likely that the president has never seen their 2-decade age gap as a massive problem either, because he is surrounded by people like Kash Patel, John Rose, and other MAGA players who are in similar relationships.

In a December 2020 interview with the Daily Mail, Ginger Luckey recalled how she had gone to a Mar-a-Lago event in March solely because of her mother's insistence. There, the 25-year-old food analyst's paths crossed with 37-year-old Matt Gaetz. After less than a year of dating, the former Florida congressman would pop the question at Mar-a-Lago. 

Ginger recalled how her affirmative response to the proposal had been, "Duh." She also revealed that while she wanted to have a lavish multi-venue ceremony, her future husband sought to have an Elvis Presley impersonator as an officiant. However, the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly threw a wrench in their ideal wedding plans, as they eloped in California in August 2021. The couple announced the arrival of their first child, Luckey Louis Gaetz, in an August 2025 Instagram post. To some, it may be surprising that their relationship has continued to thrive, given all the scandals Matt has been involved in over the years. 

Instead of releasing a public statement announcing her support for her husband in 2021, when he was first accused of sex trafficking an underage girl, she has quietly supported him by remaining in his corner and celebrating his political achievements. However, when Ginger's younger sister, Roxanne Luckey, posted TikTok videos claiming that she had found Matt to be "weird and creepy" (via Daily Beast) and just generally toxic, Ginger fired back with a statement shared with Daily Beast. After insisting that she and Matt were "deeply in love," she wrote, "My estranged sister is mentally unwell." 

Speaking to the Daily Mail in August 2025, Alexis Wikins recalled how her paths crossed with Kash Patel at a mutual friend's house party in 2022, which she initially didn't plan to attend. At the time, the aspiring country music artist was around 24, while the future FBI director was 42. However, Wilkins insisted that their 18-year age difference didn't impede their romance because she was too wise to date someone in her age bracket, adding, "It's always made a lot of sense to us and our friends and everyone around us. And there's really no need to justify things like that." 

She went on to point out that there were plenty of political couples with large gaps and age gap relationships also didn't seem like a biggie to the majority of daters in today's day and age. Meanwhile, during a July 2025 appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show," Wilkins shared what drew her to her partner in the first place, saying, "When I met him, I just liked that he was so honest." She continued, "His character is incredible, his values are incredible ... we both are very patriotic." 

However, she also couldn't help but admit that dating a MAGA politician wasn't without its caveats. Wilkins revealed that she took particular issue with how people made wild assumptions about her character based on the tidbits of information about her online. Meanwhile, in a January 2026 Vanity Fair interview, she recalled how her quality time with her family over the holidays ended with someone being put behind bars for sending her death threats.

Rumors about Lauren Boebert's love life started heating up in early 2025. In January, TMZ published a video showing the Colorado congresswoman looking extra smiley as she chatted with Kid Rock at the inaugural ball. If nothing else followed, the moment could be written off as an example of fangirl bliss, because the MAGA politician and her mother were both reportedly into his music. 

However that wasn't the case because, in February 2025, a Page Six insider claimed that Boebert and Kid Rock had left a party together at 2:30 a.m. A few weeks later, the Republican politician played coy when TMZ directly asked her if she was in a relationship with the singer. When the interview didn't let up after her deflection, Boebert said, "Y'all with all your stories, Mom won't stop asking for concert tickets, so, that's the problem I'm facing now." However, she appeared to be blushing when the interviewer questioned if she and Kid Rock were both on the market. 

After Boebert took to X to repost a photo of herself and the singer on what appeared to be a double date at his Rock N Rodeo concert in May, their relationship started looking less like a fling. However, Boebert found herself in hot water over their rumored relationship in December, as Federal Election Commission records alleged that she might have dug into her campaign funds to finance her supposed double date.

Speaking on "The Megyn Kelly Show" in February 2025, Karoline Leavitt recalled how she met Nicholas Riccio at an event for her congressional campaign in 2022. At the time, she was around 25, while he was around 57. Although Karoline acknowledged that their "atypical" age gap initially gave her pause, she ultimately couldn't help but fall for Nicholas after first getting to know him as friends. 

The White House press secretary went on to gush about her hubby, saying, "He's incredible, he's my greatest supporter, he's my best friend, he's my rock." Karoline also appreciated the real estate developer for being a wonderful father to their son, Nicholas "Niko" Robert Riccio, who was born in July 2024. When she appeared on "Pod Force One" in November 2025, she shared that she had to have a "challenging conversation" with her parents to get them to approve of her age gap relationship.

It's only natural that Karoline's parents were hesitant to support their relationship, given that her partner is about the same age as them. In fact, Karoline's mother, Erin Leavitt, is around five years younger than her son-in-law. Meanwhile, Karoline's father, Bob Leavitt, is only five years Nicholas' senior. However, they both eventually grew to love Nicholas. And so, the couple tied the knot in a January 2025 ceremony that was aptly held a few days before Donald Trump was sworn in as president. It's worth noting that our love coach believes that the biggest red flag in Karoline's marriage actually isn't the age gap.

In March 2007, 17-year-old Chelsea Doss went to Tennessee with her fellow high schoolers to participate in a convention held by Future Farmers of America (FFA). Doss fared exceptionally well at the event, as she won the State Job Interview, secured the coveted State Superior trophy, as well as the position of the Tennessee FFA Association state president. And she may have also met her future husband, the then-42-year-old John Rose, who was serving as the vice chairman of the Tennessee FFA's board.

Although it's difficult to determine if they did indeed meet on the day of the convention, the Tennessee congressman did confirm that he had attended every FFA convention for 35 years in a March 2022 post on X (formerly Twitter). The future seemed even more promising for Doss after the convention, as she earned the Jerry and Betty Williams Rose Scholarship, which would support her through college. Speaking to the Murfreesboro Post in 2010, Rose described her future husband as a mentor, saying, "John has made everything possible that I've done in FFA beyond high school" (via the Daily Mail). 

After gushing about how the scholarship had taken away the financial stresses of higher education and enabled her to solely focus on her studies, she said, "[John] has also coached me during my preparation, which has been extremely helpful." In January 2011, 21-year-old college senior Doss would walk down the aisle with the 46-year-old MAGA politician. They would welcome two sons in the following decade. The Tennessee congressman's 25-year age gap would come into question every time he posted a snap of them together, with many commentators snidely questioning if Doss was his granddaughter.