Donald Trump’s daughters also were not on the list of next week’s speakers released by the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee.
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Eric Trump and his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., are scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention.
In the days before former President Donald J. Trump formally accepts his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, at least four of his family members, several of his former primary rivals and dozens of elected officials have been scheduled to deliver speeches, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee announced on Saturday.
But Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, was not on the list of “headliners and keynote speakers” provided by the campaign. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to questions about whether its speaker list was complete. A representative for Mrs. Trump did not immediately respond to a question about whether she planned to attend the convention.
Mrs. Trump spoke at her husband’s previous two nominating conventions. But she has largely kept out of the spotlight during his third presidential campaign, including a Super Tuesday party at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and residence in Florida. She has not joined him on the trail, nor did she accompany him at any point during his criminal trial in Manhattan.
The list of convention speakers included Mr. Trump’s two older sons, Eric and Donald Jr.; Eric’s wife, Lara Trump, who is a co-chair of the Republican National Committee; and Donald Jr.’s fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Neither of Mr. Trump’s daughters, Tiffany and Ivanka, nor their spouses, Michael Boulos and Jared Kushner, respectively, were on the list. Both women delivered speeches at Mr. Trump’s nominating conventions in 2016 and 2020.
With Republicans eager to display their unity next week — particularly in the face of Democratic infighting over whether President Biden should remain their party’s nominee — several of Mr. Trump’s former primary rivals will be given speaking spots.
They include Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, whom Mr. Trump spent much of his primary attacking and humiliating, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who ran as a Trump acolyte then quickly endorsed him. Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who was the last Republican to end her primary campaign, was not on the campaign’s list, but she has urged her delegates to support Mr. Trump.
A flurry of elected Republican officials and candidates are scheduled to speak, including some who had previously rocky relationships with Mr. Trump, such as Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Dave McCormick, the Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania.
The celebrities who have been invited to speak include Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host with whom Mr. Trump is close; Amber Rose, the model and entertainment figure who once dated Kanye West; Savannah Chrisley, a reality television personality; and Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Top contenders to be Mr. Trump’s running mate — Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio and — were on the list, too.
And the speaker list includes at least one animal: Babydog, an English bulldog, who will join her owner, Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, onstage.
Michael Gold is a political correspondent for The Times covering the campaigns of Donald J. Trump and other candidates in the 2024 presidential elections. More about Michael Gold
See more on: 2024 Elections, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Melania Trump, Republican Party
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Source: nytimes.com
