Trump campaign announces speakers for Republican convention

Monday’s lineup will feature Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chamber’s lone Black Republican, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Jim Jordan of Ohio, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who chairs the Trump Victory Committee’s finance committee.

Other notable names include Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Black Democrat who supports the president; Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk; Andrew Pollack, whose daughter was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla.; and Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters earlier this summer from the steps of their mansion.

On Tuesday, first lady Melania Trump will speak, as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, albeit reportedly from Israel; Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa; former Attorney General Pam Bondi of Florida; and Attorneys General Jeanette Nuñez of Florida and Daniel Cameron of Kentucky.

The president’s children, Eric and Tiffany Trump, are also slated to speak that night, in addition to Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student who sued CNN and The Washington Post for defamation, and Mary Ann Mendoza, whose son, Sgt. Brandon Mendoza, was killed by an undocumented immigrant in a drunken driving collision in 2014.

Asked about Pompeo’s unusual setup, addressing a political convention while on official foreign travel, McDaniel wouldn’t speak to that but told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that the RNC and Trump campaign were paying for all of their events, including the programming and staging.

Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway will speak on Wednesday night, which will also feature Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Joni Ernst of Iowa; Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota; and Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin of New York.

Trump campaign adviser Lara Trump, who is married to the president’s son Eric Trump, and Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina candidate who defeated the White House’s pick in a GOP primary for chief of staff Mark Meadows’ congressional seat, will also speak that night.

The final night will include speeches by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey (who switched from the Democratic Party in December), White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump, White House aide Ja’Ron Smith and Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney.

Thursday’s lineup also includes UFC President Dana White; evangelist Franklin Graham; Alice Johnson, a criminal justice reform advocate who was granted clemency in 2018; and, of course, the president himself, who will accept the nomination at the White House instead of Charlotte, N.C., or Jacksonville, Fla., where Republicans had planned to hold their convention in person.

Some delegates are still gathering in Charlotte. McDaniel, however, insisted that everyone was tested before leaving for the city and that testing was being conducted on site, adding that Republicans were taking action to allow people to live their lives while they hold a convention in a healthy, safe way.

Of the president’s speech on Thursday night at the White House, McDaniel said that “it is being paid for by the Republican National Committee and the campaign, not the taxpayers.”

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