Speakers added for next week’s Republican convention.
Speakers set for next week’s GOP convention
WASHINGTON – Speakers at the Republican National Convention next week include a St. Louis couple who brandished guns as protesters in their gated community; a high school student maligned for his interaction with a Native American man; the father of a student killed in the Parkland, Florida, shooting of 2018; and at least one prominent anti-abortion activist.
President Donald Trump also announced Tuesday he intends to formally accept his party’s nomination in a speech delivered from the South Lawn of the White House on Aug. 27.
The speaker lineup underscores the issues behind Trump’s attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democrats, who are holding their convention this week. Democrats want to “confiscate the guns of law-abiding Americans,” as well as “protect the criminals” and “force taxpayers to fund extreme late-term abortion,” Trump said Monday in Wisconsin.
“We are in a fight for the survival of our nation and civilization itself,” Trump said.
Democrats said Trump and his allies are fear-mongering because they have no issues to run on. Strategist Jesse Ferguson said his party’s convention this week is “about improving people’s lives,” while the Republican gathering “is about improving Donald Trump’s mood.”
“Democrats are talking about combating coronavirus and healing the country while Republicans are just holding an airing of grievances,” Ferguson said.
Because of COVID-19, Trump and the Republican Party will hold a weeklong virtual convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Washington. There will be four days of Republican meetings in Charlotte – including one to formally renominate Trump – and four days of speeches and other events intended to energize supporters in and around Washington. The Republicans plan to use historic sites for the convention, which has the theme “Honoring the Great American Story.”
Vice President Mike Pence is likely to give his acceptance speech at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, site of a battle between the Americans and British in the War of 1812 that inspired “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The Republican National Committee requested a permit for a fireworks display at the Washington Monument after Trump’s acceptance speech.
The list of speakers, according to Trump aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the schedule has not been announced, includes Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The St. Louis couple faced felony charges of unlawful use of weapons after displaying them at a Black Lives Matter march in their neighborhood. Prosecutors dropped those charges.
Another scheduled speaker is Nick Sandmann, the high school student in a video showing a confrontation between him and Native American elder Nathan Phillips during a demonstration in 2019. Sandmann, who said he was simply greeting Phillips, sued news organizations for defamation and received settlements.
Andrew Pollack, a gun rights advocate and father of a student killed at Parkland, is on the list, along with anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, a former director at Planned Parenthood.