ST. LOUIS, August 28, 2020 /MateFit/ -- The Republican Party held its national convention from August 24-27, 2020.
Limited in-person events took place in Charlotte, North Carolina.[2] On July 23, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that high-profile convention events previously moved to Jacksonville, Florida, including his nomination acceptance speech, had been canceled for public health and safety reasons. Trump formally accepted the party's nomination from the White House.
The convention was originally scheduled to take place entirely in Charlotte but statewide restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic led to the convention's planned relocation to Jacksonville. The Republican National Committee Executive Committee voted to downsize the convention in Charlotte, reducing the number of in-person delegates from 2,500 to 336. The committee also decided to adopt the 2016 platform again since the Platform Committee would not be meeting.
At the convention, party delegates typically select the Republican presidential nominee and vote to adopt a platform outlining the party's policy priorities and values. According to presidential historian Tevi Troy, however, "conventions today remain largely party advertising opportunities rather than fora for real decision-making."
Convention Day 1
Featured Speakers
Nikki Haley
Former ambassador to the U.N.
Nikki Haley has served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, governor of South Carolina and United States ambassador to the United Nations. Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants. At the age of 13, Haley worked in her family’s clothing store, which later grew into a multimillion dollar business. She went on to study accounting at Clemson University. In 2004, Haley was elected to South Carolina’s House of Representatives and was re-elected in 2008. Two years later, Haley ran for South Carolina Governor, becoming the first woman and first person of an ethnic minority to hold the governorship -- as well as the second Indian-American governor in U.S. history. She won re-election in 2014. In 2015, Dylann Roof opened fire at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. After the shooting, Haley gained notoriety after successfully leading an effort to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse. In 2016, she was selected to give the Republican response to former President Obama’s State of the Union address. During that year’s Republican presidential primary, Haley initially supported Senator Marco Rubio, and then Senator Ted Cruz after Rubio suspended his campaign. She was critical of President Trump’s campaign throughout the Republican primary, notably over his call for a Muslim ban. But after President Trump won the election, he selected Haley to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley became focused on threats from Russia, North Korea and Iran and defended Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In 2018, Haley submitted her resignation as U.N. ambassador. She published a memoir called With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace, chronicling her time as ambassador. In 2019, Haley joined the Boeing board of directors, but resigned in March 2020, citing a disagreement over Boeing’s request for a federal stimulus package amid the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis.
Donald Trump Jr.
Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization
Donald Trump Jr. is Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization and the eldest son of President Donald Trump. He was born in New York City to Donald Trump and his first wife, Ivana. Growing up, he spent summers with his grandparents in Czechoslovakia, but attended boarding school with his siblings back in the U.S. at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Real Estate from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he moved to Aspen, Colorado to work as a bartender. In 2001, he was arrested in New Orleans for public drunkenness during a Mardi Gras celebration, and spent 11 hours in jail. That same year, he joined the Trump Organization. Trump Jr. worked at Trump Place, the New York City West Side Yards’ development that included 17 buildings and spanned several blocks. In 2003, Trump Jr. oversaw the construction of Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago and was also involved in the development of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. He led efforts to expand Trump properties into India, in cities like Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata. He was an advisor on the TV shows, “The Apprentice” and the “The Celebrity Apprentice.” In 2010, Trump Jr. started a building materials company called Titan Atlas Manufacturing that failed two years later, with accusations of withheld taxes and unpaid bills. In 2015, Donald Trump announced he was running for president, and Trump Jr. began helping with the campaign. He became more active on social media, but also drew controversy for posting false reports (this year, Twitter temporarily restricted Trump Jr.’s account after he posted misinformation pertaining to the COVID-19 outbreak). After President Trump won the 2016 election, Trump Jr. continued to be a vocal defender of his father. In 2017, it was reported that Trump Jr. had taken a meeting the previous year with a Russian lawyer who said they had damaging information about then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. It was reported this summer that the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee had made a criminal referral of Trump Jr. and other Trump associates to the Department of Justice. In 2019, Donald Jr. published “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us,” criticizing political correctness. Trump Jr. is again playing a central role in the Republican 2020 re-election campaign, continuing to be an outspoken supporter of his father on social media and leading campaign fundraising efforts with his girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is a senior adviser to the Trump campaign. He plans to campaign for his father throughout September and October. Trump Jr. is a father to five children from his first marriage.
Sen. Tim Scott
(R-SC)
Tim Scott is a Republican senator from South Carolina. He grew up in a poor, single-parent household in North Charleston, South Carolina. Although he initially struggled in high school and failed four classes his freshman year, he went on to graduate from Charleston Southern University with a degree in political science, crediting the success to his mother and a close mentor, who ran a local fast-food restaurant. He then worked in the real estate and insurance business. In 1995, he ran for a seat on the Charleston County Council, serving until 2008. He was then elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives that same year. Then, in 2010, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, and won, becoming the the first black Congressional Republican from the South since Reconstruction. In 2012, when then-South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint announced his resignation, then-Governor Nikki Haley appointed Scott to replace him. Scott was a staunch conservative. Under the Obama presidency, he called for repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and opposed same-sex marriage and abortion rights. Scott was re-elected to the Senate in 2017. His signature legislation was creating Opportunity Zones in the 2017 tax reform package, which focused on bringing private investments to low-income communities. Scott has become more outspoken on racism in the U.S. and in 2018, he co-sponsored a bill that would make lynching a federal crime. After the killing of George Floyd this year, he tried to pass a police reform bill, but it was blocked by Senate Democrats, who criticized the reforms as not going far enough. Scott is the Republican Party’s only black Senator.
Convention Day 2
Featured Speakers
Melania Trump
former model and business woman; first lady of the U.S.
Melania Trump is a former model and businesswoman who serves as first lady of the United States. Born in Slovenia, she is the second first lady born outside of the U.S., and the only first lady to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Her father was a car salesman and her mother was in the textile industry. She moved to Ljubljana, now the capital of Slovenia, for high school before leaving to pursue her modeling career at the age of 16. Her modeling career first took her to Europe and then to the U.S in 1996. She became a U.S. citizen 10 years later. She modeled for several magazines, including for Sports Illustrated in 2000. Trump met her future husband at a Fashion Week party in 1998. They were married in 2005. She was Honorary Chairwoman for the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2005 and was also awarded Goodwill Ambassador by the American Red Cross. In 2006, she gave birth to her son, Barron. That same year, she was named woman of the year by the Police Athletic League. Trump also served as honorary chairwoman for the Boys’ Club of New York for five years and became chairwoman for the American Heart Association in 2010. After speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2016, she came under fire for giving a speech that mirrored remarks delivered by former first lady Michelle Obama in 2008; Trump’s speech writer later took responsibility for lifting words and phrases from Obama’s speech. As first lady, she launched her “Be Best” campaign, which raises awareness surrounding the well-being of children, including bullying, children’s health, the impact of social media and opioid use.
Eric Trump
Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization
Eric Trump is the second son of President Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana Trump. He works as the executive vice president of the Trump Organization and is responsible for the managerial and operational aspects for the real estate business. Trump married producer Lara Trump (née Yunaska) in 2014. Together, Eric and Lara Trump have two childrem: a son Eric “Luke” Trump and a daughter Carolina Dorothy Trump, both of whom were born during their grandfather’s presidency.
Tiffany Trump
Tiffany Trump is the only child of President Donald Trump and his second wife Marla Maples. She graduated from her father’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. She then went on to attend the Georgetown University Law Center; she graduated this spring.
Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo was sworn in as the United States’ 70th secretary of State after the dismissal of President Donald Trump’s first appointee Rex Tillerson in 2018. Prior to holding his current position in the Trump Administration, he served four terms in Congress representing Kansas’ 4th district and then as the director of the CIA. Pompeo is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Harvard Law School and served as a cavalry officer during the Cold War. Since stepping into the role of secretary of state, Pompeo has been a driving force behind Trump’s relationship with leaders like North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, who met with Pompeo in the course of negotiations over the country’s nuclear program. Pompeo also promoted the theory, without evidence, that the novel coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, but has recently backed away from the claim as fact checkers and scientific experts have offered evidence disproving it. Some critics have said Pompeo’s speech at the RNC crosses the longstanding line between politics and diplomacy, though Pompeo has said his remarks at the convention will be given in a personal capacity and not use government resources. He is currently traveling in the Middle East on official business, and his remarks for the RNC are thought to have been recorded on Monday while he was in Jerusalem.
Convention Day 3
Featured Speakers
Vice President Mike Pence
Mike Pence serves as the vice president of the United States. Born in Columbus, Indiana, Pence is one of six children. His family owned more than 200 gas stations in Indiana, but the business later collapsed; later reporting indicated it cost taxpayers $20 million in toxic chemical cleanup. Pence graduated from Hanover College in 1981 with a degree in history. He then attended Indiana University School of Law, where he met his future wife, Karen Pence. After graduating, he practiced law, led the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and was also the host of the Mike Pence Show, a syndicated talk radio show. Pence attempted two unsuccessful runs for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988 and 1990. In 2000, he was elected to the House from Indiana’s second district and was re-elected five more times. In 2012, he was elected governor of Indiana. In 2015, Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibited local governments from intervening when businesses turned away customers for religious reasons. After backlash from the LGBTQ community and large companies like Apple, Pence signed a revision less than a month later that enacted protections based on sexual orientation. In July 2016, President Donald Trump selected Pence as his running mate. After taking office with Trump, Pence has continued to promote religious freedom and anti-abortion beliefs, cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary and called for the establishment of the Space Force. This year, he was put in charge of the novel coronavirus task force.
Karen Pence
Second lady
Karen Pence is a teacher, painter, former first lady of Indiana, and current second lady of the United States. She is married to Mike Pence, the 48th vice president of the United States. Pence grew up in Indianapolis and attended Butler University where she studied elementary education. She spent 25 years teaching at various elementary schools and was also a watercolor artist before becoming first lady of Indiana in 2013. As first lady, she created the Indiana First Lady’s Charitable Foundation, which awards grants to local charities. After the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, as second lady, she has focused on bringing attention to art therapy.
Kellyanne Conway
Counselor to the president
Kellyanne Conway serves as counselor to the president in the Trump administration and was Donald Trump’s campaign manager for the final months of the 2016 election. She is the first woman to run a winning U.S. presidential campaign. Conway grew up in New Jersey and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. (now Trinity Washington University). She graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1992 and entered a career in polling. She founded her own firm, The Polling Company, in 1995. Her firm worked with corporate clients such as American Express and Hasbro, as well as politicians including Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich and Mike Pence, Trump’s eventual running mate. Conway appeared across cable networks as a polling commentator and received the Washington Post’s “Crystal Ball” award for her predictions around the 2004 elections. In July 2016, Trump announced he had hired Conway as a senior adviser to the campaign and by August she had been named the campaign manager. After helping him win the 2016 presidential election, Trump appointed her as counselor to the president. Conway worked as a close adviser to Trump and continued to be a visible member of the administration in different media outlets, becoming known for her strong defense of the president and his policies. Shortly after Trump took office she defended then-press secretary Sean Spicer’s inaccurate portrayal of inauguration crowds as “alternative facts,” a phrase she returned to at times in the months that followed. Conway’s relationship with her husband, George Conway, has garnered attention because of his involvement with the Lincoln Project, a group of conservatives working to defeat Trump in the November election. In August 2020, they both announced they would leave their respective posts to focus on their family.
Convention Day 4
Featured Speakers
President Trump
Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States. He attended the New York Military Academy, Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance. After that, he started his career in real estate sharing an office with his father in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. In 1977, Trump married Ivana Winklmayr and had children: Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. In 1992, Trump divorced Ivana and the following year he married Marla Maples and their daughter Tiffany was born. In 2004, Trump starred in and produced the reality television show, “The Apprentice,” and “The Celebrity Apprentice,” which made him a household name. In 2005, he married his current wife, Melania Knauss, and their son Barron was born in 2006. Trump launched an exploratory committee to seek the nomination of the Reform Party in the 2000 presidential election, but dropped out of the race. Again in 2012 he considered a bid for the presidency, but ultimately did not run. His ambitions were not taken seriously at the time. Though he didn’t hold office until he eventually won the presidency in 2016, Trump was talked about in political spheres and regularly interviewed on cable news shows for his promotion of conspiracy theories, including the “birther” theory that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and therefore ineligible for the office he held. Since taking office, he has pushed for the construction of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, dramatically decreased the amount of legal immigration to the U.S., deregulated industry, cut taxes and rolled back environmental protections. He launched a trade war with China and replaced the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, with a new trade pact, the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which took effect in July 2020. He has also been at the center of numerous controversies and investigations throughout his tenure in the White House, including an investigation that ultimately resulted in his impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives but his acquittal in the U.S. Senate, which allowed him to remain in office. He is now running for his second and final term as president during a global pandemic that has killed over 177,000 people in the U.S. and sent the economy into a deep recession.
Ivanka Trump
Business owner
Ivanka Trump is a businesswoman and adviser to her father President Donald Trump. She is the daughter of Ivana Winklmayr, Donald Trump’s first wife. In her teen years, Ivanka worked briefly as a model, posing in print advertisements for Tommy Hilfiger and walking the runway for Gianni Versace. In 2004, she received her bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, she joined her father’s company the Trump Organization, as the executive vice president of development & acquisitions. She acted as the lead negotiator for the purchase of Trump National Doral Miami, and the sprawling bankrupt property was acquired for $150 million. Trump married Jared Kushner, an investor and real estate developer who would later become a senior adviser to his father-in-law, in 2009. She converted to Orthodox Judaism shortly before her marriage to Kushner, making them the first Jewish members of the first family. She has launched several retail lines, including jewelry, handbags, clothes and shoes. When her father entered the White House, Trump left the family organization and became an adviser to the president, raising ethics concerns about separation between her business and her work for the executive branch. In 2017, several department stores, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, dropped her fashion line after her father’s controversial campaign and election as president, but also due to weak sales. She announced she was shutting down her fashion line the following year. Trump has taken on several initiatives since becoming an adviser to her father in the White House, including paid parental leave and a Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
Rudy Giuliani
Former mayor of New York City
Rudy Giuliani is the former mayor of New York City and is now President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani was born in Brooklyn to working class Italian American parents. He went on to graduate from Manhattan College in 1965 and New York University School of Law in 1968. He began his law career by clerking for Judge Lloyd MacMahon, the U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York. In 1970, he joined the U.S. Attorney’s office, eventually becoming the Chief of the Narcotics Unit and later named the executive U.S. Attorney. A decade later, in 1981, Giuliani obtained the third highest position in the Department of Justice, becoming Associate Attorney General. And just a couple years later, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he implemented a tough-on-crime approach, aiming to jail drug purveyors, white-collar criminals, and more. From 1994 to 2001, Giuliani served as the mayor of New York City. Though his second term was marred by criticisms of police brutality, among other things, his handling of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was widely lauded. In 2001, Giuliani was named Time’s Person of the Year and made an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2008, he ran for president--but, after spending $59 million, he lost every state and scooped just one delegate. In 2016, Giuliani joined Donald Trump’s presidential campaign team. He vigorously defended Trump the candidate on talk shows during the aftermath of the Access Hollywood tape, and later defended the president during the Russia investigation.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) (Click here to watch speech.) U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (La.) U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio) Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (Click here to watch speech.) RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones (D) Amy Johnson Ford Kimberly Guilfoyle Natalie Harp Charlie Kirk Kim Klacik Mark and Patricia McCloskey Sean Parnell Andrew Pollack Donald Trump Jr. (Click here to watch speech.) Tanya Weinreis
Tuesday, August 25: Land of Promise Speakers
First Lady Melania Trump (Click here to watch speech.) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Abby Johnson Jason Joyce Myron Lizer Megan Pauley Cris Peterson John Peterson Nicholas Sandmann Eric Trump Tiffany Trump
Wednesday, August 26: Land of Opportunity Speakers
Vice President Mike Pence (Click here to watch speech.) Second Lady Karen Pence U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem U.S. Rep. Daniel Crenshaw (Texas) U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (N.Y.) Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway Keith Kellogg Jack Brewer Sister Dede Byrne Madison Cawthorn Scott Dane Clarence Henderson Ryan Holets Michael McHale Burgess Owens Lara Trump
Thursday, August 27: Land of Greatness Speakers
President Donald Trump Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (N.J.) Ivanka Trump Ja'Ron Smith Ann Dorn Debbie Flood Rudy Giuliani Franklin Graham Alice Johnson Wade Mayfield Carl and Marsha Mueller Dana White
Featured speakers
Donald Trump
Mike Pence
Melania Trump
Donald Trump Jr.
Ivanka Trump
Nikki Haley
Joni Ernst
Tim Scott
List of speakers
Featured speakers
Donald Trump Mike Pence Melania Trump Donald Trump Jr.
Ivanka Trump Nikki Haley Joni Ernst Tim Scott List of speakers This section provides a list of speakers participating in the 2020 Republican National Convention. This list was last updated on August 25, 2020.[9]
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Jack Brewer Sister Dede Byrne Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Madison Cawthorn White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton U.S. Rep. Daniel Crenshaw Scott Dane Ann Dorn U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst Debbie Flood Amy Johnson Ford U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz Franklin Graham Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell Kimberly Guilfoyle Rudy Giuliani Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley Natalie Harp Clarence Henderson Ryan Holets Abby Johnson Alice Johnson Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan Jason Joyce Keith Kellogg Charlie Kirk Kim Klacik Myron Lizer Wade Mayfield U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Mark and Patricia McCloskey Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel Michael McHale Carl and Marsha Mueller South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez Burgess Owens Sean Parnell U.S. Sen. Rand Paul Megan Pauley Vice President Mike Pence Second Lady Karen Pence Cris Peterson John Peterson Andrew Pollack Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Nicholas Sandmann U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise U.S. Sen. Tim Scott Ja'Ron Smith U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik President Donald Trump Donald Trump Jr. Eric Trump Ivanka Trump First Lady Melania Trump Lara Trump Tiffany Trump U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew Tanya Weinreis Dana White U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin
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