CLEVELAND—The long awaited speaker list for this year’s Republican National Convention has been unveiled. Presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump approved a convention program that features at least 20 current or former elected officials, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a primary rival.
Absent are Trump’s friends from professional sports such as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or the celebrities that the New York billionaire’s team long suggested would help make this convention unlike any other.
Still, there is no shortage of political outsiders.
Speakers include four of Trump’s children, Las Vegas casino owner Phil Ruffin, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and actor and former underwear model Antonio Sabàto Jr. College football star Tim Tebow will appear on stage, the campaign confirmed.
Mark Geist and John Tiegen, survivors of the deadly 2012 attack on the American diplomatic consulate in Benghazi, Libya, will speak.
“This impressive lineup of veterans, political outsiders, faith leaders and those who know Donald Trump the best—his family and longtime friends—represent a cross-section of real people facing the same challenges as every American household,” said Trump spokesman Jason Miller.
Some of the GOP’s biggest names are declining to participate in four-day convention, which begins on Monday.
Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and the party’s two most recent presidential nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney, plan to skip the event, as does Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another Trump primary challenger.
Shrugging off such absences, Trump’s team suggested the convention lineup would help highlight Trump’s outsider appeal.
