St. Louis couple, Covington Catholic student to speak at Republican National Convention
WASHINGTON –
Speakers at the Republican National Convention next week include a St. Louis couple that brandished guns as protesters of police brutality marched through their gated community; the 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.
The 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 told supporters Monday in Oshkosh, 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. Democratic 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.
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Due to COVID-19, Trump and the Republican Party are holding what amounts to a virtual convention taking place in two different cities: Charlotte, N.C., and Washington, D.C.
There will be four days of Republican meetings in Charlotte – including one for the purpose of formally re-nominating Trump – and four days of speeches and other events intended to energize Trump’s core supporters in and around Washington.
It will all be capped by Trump’s acceptance speech Aug. 27, probably from the White House itself, a venue choice that has drawn criticism from lawmakers who say he shouldn’t be using an iconic government building for such a political campaign speech.
The Republicans are planning to use several historic sites in and near Washington, D.C., for a convention week with the theme, “Honoring The Great American Story.”
Vice President Mike Pence is expected to give his acceptance speech at a nearby historic site: Fort McHenry in Baltimore, site of a battle between the Americans and British in the War of 1812 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star Spangled Banner.”
As part of the hoopla, the Republican National Committee has requested a permit for a fireworks display at the Washington Monument following Trump’s acceptance speech that Thursday night.
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 for unlawful use of weapons after displaying them at a Black Lives Matter march in their neighborhood. Prosecutors eventually dropped those charges.
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Another scheduled speaker is Nick Sandmann, the high school student who was criticized for a video showing a confrontation between him and Native American elder Nathan Phillips during a 2019 demonstration. Sandmann, who said he was simply greeting Phillips, sued news organizations for defamation and earned settlements.
Andrew Pollack, a gun rights advocate and the father of a student killed at the Parkland shooting, is also on the Republican speakers’ list. So is anti-abortion advocate Abby Johnson, a former director at Planned Parenthood.
The president is also busy during the Democrats’ virtual convention this week. Trump is visiting at least five battleground states – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Iowa – as the Democrats convene via video to nominate Joe Biden.
The first half of the Republican convention takes place Aug. 21-24 – Friday to Monday – in Charlotte, N.C., the city once slated to host the traditional convention. But then came COVID-19.
State officials in North Carolina declined Republican requests to lift restrictions on large gatherings. They said holding a traditional political convention, with thousands of people flying to Charlotte from across the country, might well spread COVID-19 nationwide.
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So the Republicans improvised. They moved the start of the convention up three days and scheduled meetings with small numbers of delegates to carry out essential party business.
The meetings end Monday with the biggest of them all: The session to formally nominate Trump for a second term.
The president himself is expected to fly to Charlotte that day to claim his nomination. He will not deliver a formal acceptance speech, aides said, but instead express thanks to the delegates for their work under challenging circumstances.
When the Republicans canceled their traditional convention, they moved Trump’s prime-time acceptance on Aug. 27 to a venue in Jacksonville, Florida. But they had to cancel those plans too as cases of COVID-19 spiked in the Jacksonville area.
After that, Trump aides explored the idea of having the president accept the nomination at some “historic site.” They narrowed the choices down to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, site of a pivotal Civil War battle and an iconic Abraham Lincoln speech, and the White House.
Trump said he will likely choose the White House, despite protests that it violates laws prohibiting political campaign activity on taxpayer-funded government property.
The same Monday that delegates in Charlotte vote to re-nominate Trump, the president and his campaign team will begin holding events in Washington, D.C., featuring Republican leaders and up-and-coming members of the party.
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Venues include the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, a government-owned 750-seat auditorium near the National Mall. (It is often rented out for events, including the 2017 wedding of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.)