Tonight concludes the Republican National Convention. To cap off the four-day conference, convicted felon Donald Trump, now the official GOP nominee for president, will give his address – but not before another lineup of speakers consisting of MAGA insiders, extremists, Trump employees, Christian nationalists, Trump megadonors, and more. Only four of the more than 40 cabinet members who served in Trump’s administration have spoken at the convention. Most of the remainder either haven’t endorsed him or actively oppose him. Despite promoting a new tone, MAGA Republicans continue to show with speaker after speaker that they are more interested in helping Donald Trump than bringing the country together.
Eric Trump
Eric Trump Profited Off His Father’s Presidency and Protected His Business Interests. Throughout Trump’s presidency, his son Eric Trump used his position to make sure the Trump family personally profited off the presidency. Before he was elected President, Trump pledged “No new deals will be done during my terms in office.” Despite this pledge, Trump’s sons inked hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new business deals abroad — while taxpayers covered the security costs of each business trip to a host of countries including the United Arab Emirates, India, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom. Eric Trump has been fiercely loyal to his father and his business, protecting him during his business fraud trial in New York by “not recalling” certain aspects of the case or business practices during testimony.
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson Is A Far-Right MAGA Conspiracy Theorist and Russian Propagandist Who Has Served As Trump’s Megaphone For Nearly A Decade. Tucker Carlson can only be described as a catalyst for MAGA conspiracy theories and an apologist for political violence. He knowingly spread lies about the 2020 presidential election, laying the groundwork for the January 6 insurrection and leading to a nearly $800 million settlement in litigation against Fox News for defamation. In the aftermath of January 6, he supported insurrectionists, painting them as “orderly and meek” martyrs. As Media Matters for America pointed out, Carlson regularly promotes unhinged conspiracy theories, including the white nationalist great replacement theory, anti-vaccine rhetoric, and Russian propaganda.
Former Trump Administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo Served In The Trump Administration, Protecting Trump and Working To Overturn the 2020 Election. Mike Pompeo spent all four years of the Trump administration working with the former president, first as Director of the CIA, and as Trump’s Secretary of State. Pompeo advocated for Trump throughout his first impeachment trial and later spread a debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine. After the 2020 election, Pompeo hyped Trump’s false claims and foreshadowed his efforts to overturn the outcome, telling reporters, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration…when the process is complete, they’ll be electors selected.” Trump protected Pompeo from scrutiny, firing the State Department inspector general investigating ethics violations by Pompeo and his wife, which later found more than 100 instances of misconduct.
Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT)
Election Denier Steve Daines Supported Efforts to Overturn the 2020 Election. Steve Daines is an election denier who pressured officials to refuse to certify the 2020 presidential election results based on Trump’s false lies and conspiracy theories just days before the January 6 insurrection, joining 11 other MAGA Republican senators working to overturn the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania before changing his mind and voting to certify the election after the Capitol riot. He then refused to investigate the insurrection, voting against creating an independent investigatory commission. Daines is a Trump loyalist who voted in line with the former president nearly 90% of the time. He’s also an abortion extremist who has supported a national abortion ban.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-NC)
Richard Hudson Voted To Overturn The Election. Richard Hudson voted to overturn the election for Trump and joined the Texas amicus brief that sought to overturn the votes of millions of Americans. Hudson was a participant in Republican efforts to “drown out” the January 6 committee by hosting counter events.
Former Trump Administration Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon Is Another Trump Shill Vying For A Second Term In The Trump Administration. Linda McMahon, the former WWE owner, is a twice–failed GOP Senate candidate with close ties to Trump. She was a Trump Foundation mega-donor in the 2000s, then served in the Trump administration as head of the Small Business Administration – a cabinet-level role. Now, she’s taken on leading roles in Trump’s super PAC as well as the far-right America First Policy Institute led by Stephen Miller in an effort to land another four years in a Trump cabinet, telling reporters she’s “ready to serve.”
Trump Employees, Megadonors, & Supporters
The RNC Invited Trump’s Employees, Megadonors, and Supporters To Close Out Their MAGA Conference. The MAGA GOP has fully embraced Trump, inviting even his employees and megadonors to speak in Milwaukee on the final day of the RNC:
- Alina Habba, Trump’s Attorney. Alina Habba is Trump’s attorney, who has served as Trump’s legal spokesperson and a senior advisor for his super PAC since 2021. She has represented him for a litany of criminal investigations and charges, including his tax fraud case in New York and defamation case in New York. She has relentlessly spread Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories, spoken at right-wing conferences, and become an increasingly public part of his campaign. Steve Witkoff, Trump Megadonor. Steve Witkoff is a businessman and developer who has reportedly known Trump for decades and is a Trump megadonor, giving more than $2 million and serving as an informal advisor to Trump during the pandemic.
- Zach Witkoff, Trump Megadonor. Zach Witkoff, Steve Witkoff’s son, is a real estate and tech investor and Trump megadonor who holds close ties to the former president. He was married at Trump’s club.
- Diane Hendricks, Trump Megadonor. Diane Hendricks is one of the richest women in the country with a net worth above $20 billion. She is also a Trump megadonor, contributing more than $5 million to support his campaigns as far back as 2016.
- Carrie Ruiz, Trump Doral Golf Manager. Carrie Ruiz is one of Trump’s employees, serving as general manager of golf at Trump Doral. Trump Doral, based in Miami, Florida, is Trump’s highest-earning golf course, bringing in nearly 30 percent of his golf course income after leaving office.
- John Nieporte, Trump International Golf Manager. John Nieporte is one of Trump’s employees, serving as a head golf professional at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump, who lies about everything, is notorious for cheating at golf and inflating his own athletic prowess to ridiculous levels. The golf course is Trump’s fifth highest-earning golf course, bringing in over $37 million in revenue in just over a year after Trump left office.
- Diane Evans, ‘Trumpettes’ Member. Diane Evans is a Florida property manager and MAGA loyalist who belongs to a group of Trump die-hards known as the Trumpettes. The Trumpettes first organized in 2016, and Evans has been a loyal Trumpette since 2019.
Christian Nationalists
The RNC Invited Two Prominent Evangelicals To Close Out Their MAGA Conference. The MAGA GOP has fully embraced Christian nationalism and evangelical fervor, inviting evangelical leaders to speak in Milwaukee on the final day of the RNC:
- Franklin Graham, Longtime Trump Ally & Evangelical Leader. Franklin Graham, who serves as president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is a Trump loyalist to the core. He holds extreme Christian nationalist views, including supporting conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ individuals. He has backed Trump as far back as 2012 and became known as “above all, as the most vociferous evangelical ally” of the former President. He even suggested opposition to Trump was the work of a “demonic power.” After the January 6 insurrection, tens of thousands of Christians signed a petition asking for his removal from a Christian organization for helping incite the insurrection by spreading Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories.
- Lorenzo Sewell, Senior Evangelical Pastor. Lorenzo Sewell is a Detroit-based evangelical pastor who hosted Trump’s visit to a Detroit church in June. Last year, he was temporarily barred from his own church and handcuffed outside the church after a group of evangelicals changed the locks, later going to court to gain access to the building and resume services.
MAGA Celebrities
Professional Fighters Hulk Hogan and Dana White Have Shocking Records Of Racism And Domestic Abuse. In a desperate bid for attention, MAGA Republicans invited disgraced celebrity pro wrestler Hulk Hogan to speak tonight – in spite of his shocking record of racist rants about black men and a recording of him using the n-word that led to his firing from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2015. He has also faced allegations of physically abusing and assaulting his ex-wife. Another figure in the industry, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Dana White, a multi-millionaire Trump endorser who has donated over $1 million to Trump’s super PAC, is also slated to speak. White has also been captured on camera physically assaulting his wife during an argument in a nightclub and has refused to defend other UFC fighters from racist attacks by fellow fighter Colby Covington.