Tag Archives: Republican National Convention

Sen. Marco Rubio Among Latinos Scheduled to Speak at Republican National Convention

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Sen. Marco Rubio is headed to next week’s Republican National Convention.

The 53-year-old Cuban American politician and lawyer serving as the senior U.S. senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011, is slated to speak at the upcoming Republican event.

Marco RubioIt’s been reported that Rubio is one of the vice presidential candidate finalists by former president Donald Trump as he seeks to return to the White House.

But Rubio isn’t the only Latino scheduled to speak at the convention.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who famously refused to endorse Trump in his speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, has a speaking slot. He went on to endorse Trump later in the 2016 campaign as well as in 2020 and 2024.

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz is set to speak.

The 49-year-old Mexican American politician, who has represented Texas’ 15th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023. is the first Republican and first woman to represent Texas’s 15th congressional district since its creation in 1903.

Other Hispanic speakers include Peter Navarro, Former Director of United States Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy; U.S. Rep. Paulina Luna (FL-13) and U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (R-OH).

Here’s the list, as revealed by the RNC:

Family:
Donald Trump Jr.
Eric Trump
Co-Chairman Lara Trump
Kimberly Guilfoyle 

Entertainers, Celebrities, & Industry Leaders:
Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition
Tucker Carlson, Television Host
Savannah Chrisley, TV Personality and Criminal Justice Reform Advocate
Franklin Graham, Renowned Faith Leader
Lee Greenwood, Country Music Star
Alina Habba, Trump Campaign Senior Advisor
Diane Hendricks, Owner of ABC Supply
Tom Homan, Former Acting ICE Director
Chris Janson, Country Music Star
Perry Johnson, Businessman
Charlie Kirk, CEO of TPUSA
Sean O’Brien, President of Teamsters
Vivek Ramaswamy, Businessman
Amber Rose, Rapper & Influencer
David Sacks, CEO of Yammer
Bob Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods
Dana White, CEO of UFC
Steven and Zach Witkoff, Businessman

RNC Leadership:
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley
COA Chairwoman Anne Hathaway
Host Committee Chairman Reince Priebus 

GOP Officials & Candidates:
U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-AL)
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)
U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL)
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO)
U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), NRSC Chairman
U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH)
U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC)
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)
U.S. Senate Candidate Kari Lake (R-AZ)
U.S. Senate Candidate Jim Banks (R-IN)
U.S. Senate Candidate Mike Rogers (R-MI)
U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Sheehy (R-MT)
U.S. Senate Candidate Sam Brown (R- NV)
U.S. Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno (R-OH)
U.S. Senate Candidate Dave McCormick (R-PA)
U.S. Senate Candidate Hung Cao (R-VA)
U.S. Senate Candidate Eric Hovde (R-WI)
U.S. Senate Candidate Gov. Jim Justice (WV) & Babydog
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-4)
U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA-1)
U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN-6)
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-9), NRCC Chairman
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21), House GOP Conference Chair
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-1)
U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (FL-6)
U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13)
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (FL-19)
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21)
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14)
U.S. Rep. John James (MI-10)
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2)
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (SC-1)
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13)
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (TX-15)
U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (TX-38)
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR)
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND)
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD)
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA)
Attorney General Brenna Bird (R-IA)
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R-NC)
Mayor Eric Johnson, Mayor of Dallas & Former Democrat
Mayor Trent Conaway, Mayor East Palestine, Ohio
Dr. Ben Carson, Former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Kellyanne Conway, Former Counselor to President Donald J. Trump
Ric Grenell, Former Acting Director of National Intelligence
Peter Navarro, Former Director of United States Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy
Mike Pompeo, Former U.S. Secretary of State
Linda McMahon, Former U.S. Administrator of SBA
Newt Gingrich, Former U.S House Speaker
Lee Zeldin, Former U.S. Rep. (NY-1)

Cardi B Encourages People to Register to Vote as Deadlines Approach

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Cardi B is urging you to get registered…

The 27-year-old half-Dominican American rap superstar, who has never been afraid to get political, is encouraging everyone to get registered to vote.

Cardi B

In a video posted by her label, Atlantic Records, Cardi B keeps it simple:

“It’s Cardi B and let me tell y’all something, state deadlines are coming very quick so make sure y’all click the link in the bio so y’all can register to vote,” she says in the brief video supporting the non-partisan group HeadCount, a national non-profit organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy in the United States.

With less than 65 days left until the November 3 election, the push to register voters and make sure they have the necessary materials to vote by mail or to vote early in their states is ramping up.

Cardi B had previously voiced her support for Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, interviewing him about his vision for the country and political views, before her dropped out of the race. She’s now thrown her support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who she also interviewed recently.

Click here to register to vote through the HeadCount website.

Click here to verify that you’re already registered to vote in your state.

Cardi B, riding high on the chart-topping success of her Megan Thee Stallion collaboration “WAP,” recently got into a social media tussle with former Republican congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine, after Lorraine made an unflattering comparison between Cardi B and First Lady Melania Trump after the latter’s speech at last week’s Republican National Convention.

“America needs far more women like Melania Trump and far less like Cardi B,” tweeted the politician who failed in her bid to unseat Democratic Speaker of the House leader Nancy Pelosi, leading the superstar to fire back, “Didn’t she used to sell that Wap?”

Florida Lt. Governor Jeanette Núñez to Speak at This Week’s Republican National Convention

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Jeanette Núñez is preparing to take the national stage…

The 48-year-old Cuban American Florida Lieutenant Governor politician and businesswoman, who currently serves as Florida’s Lieutenant Governor, will speak at this week’s Republican National Convention.

Jeanette Núñez

Núñez will speak on Tuesday night as part of the Republicans’ Land of Opportunity-themed day at the RNC.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann Mendoza, the mother of Mesa Police Department sergeant Brandon Mendoza, who was killed by an illegal immigrant in a head-on car collision in Arizona in 2014, will also speak on Tuesday.

This week, Republicans are looking to energize their base – and bid for sought-after undecided voters – as they hold their own part digital, part in-person convention to officially nominate President Donald Trump as their 2020 candidate.

The Republican National Convention, like its Democratic counterpart, is held each presidential election cycle and is where the party finalizes and presents its policy platforms going into the final stretch of the campaign. During the event, Republican delegates from across the country also pledge their votes for potential candidates based on the outcome of state primary elections.

This year, no more than 336 delegates – the 2016 convention had more than 2,400 – will gather in-person in Charlotte, North Carolina, to conduct the roll call vote and formally nominate Trump, who faced little opposition in the primary season. 

The unorthodox convention is expected to be a test for the Republican party.

Initially scheduled to be a traditional in-person gathering in Charlotte, in June the party moved most of the convention to Jacksonville, Florida after clashing with North Carolina’s governor over coronavirus restrictions. 

Then in late July, Trump cancelled the Jacksonville portion of the convention completely as infections in the state rose. The party then pivoted towards a more digital approach. 

Democrats, in contrast, had been repurposing their convention to be fully digital since June.

The four-day convention, running from August 24 to 27, will center around an overarching theme of “Honoring the Great American Story” and will feature everyday Americans who will testify that the president has positively affected their lives, according to the campaign. Events will be live streamed during the day, with the main programming taking place between 8:30pm and 11pm (00:30 GMT and 03:00 GMT) each night. 

Vice President Mike Pence, who will also accept the party’s nomination, said on Friday the convention would focus on the economy and law and order, while its speakers will present the Democratic party as being taken over by “the radical left.”

Trump is also expected to feature prominently during each day of the event before making his acceptance speech, likely from the South Lawn of the White House, on the final day.

Here’s the schedule for the upcoming convention: 

Monday, August 24

Theme:
“Land of Promise”

Speakers:
A maximum of 336 delegates will meet in the morning from 9am to 1pm (13:00 – 17:00 GMT) before conducting a nighttime roll call in which Trump and Pence will officially be nominated.
Senator Tim Scott 
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise 
Representative Matt Gaetz 
Representative Jim Jordan 
Former Ambassador to United Nations Nikki Haley
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel
Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones
Amy Johnson Ford
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Natalie Harp
Charlie Kirk
Kim Klacik
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, St Louis couple who brandished guns at Black Lives Matter protesters
Congressional candidate Sean Parnell
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting
Donald Trump Jr.
Tanya Weinreis, Montana coffee shop owner whose business and employee’s livelihoods were saved by the federal virus relief Paycheck Protection Program

Tuesday, August 25

Theme:
“Land of Opportunity”

Speakers:
First Lady Melania Trump
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Senator Rand Paul
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee who is now an anti-abortion activist.
Jason Joyce
Myron Lizer
Mary Ann Mendoza
Megan Pauley
Cris Peterson
John Peterson
Nicholas Sandmann, Kentucky Catholic high school student who successfully sued a media organisation for not providing context to a confrontation with a Native American activist at Right to Life march that went viral
Eric Trump
Tiffany Trump

Wednesday, August 26

Theme:
“Land of Heroes”

Speakers:
Vice President Mike Pence
Second Lady Karen Pence
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Senator Joni Ernst
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
Representative Dan Crenshaw
Representative Elise Stefanik
Representative Lee Zeldin
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell
White counselor Kellyanne Conway
Vice Presidential National Security Advisor Keith Kellogg
Jack Brewer
Sister Dede Byrne
Madison Cawthorn
Scott Dane
Clarence Henderson
Ryan Holets
Michael McHale
Congressional candidate Burgess Owens
Lara Trump

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Theme:
“Land of Greatness”

Speakers:
President Donald Trump
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 
Senator Tom Cotton
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy
Representative Jeff Van Drew 
Ivanka Trump
White House Deputy Assistant Ja’Ron Smith
Police Sergeant Ann Dorn, widow of retired police captain David Dorn who was killed during violent protests in St Louis in June
Debbie Flood
Former mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani
Franklin Graham
Alice Johnson, a woman whose prison sentence was commuted by Trump
Wade Mayfield
Carl and Marsha Mueller, parents of Kayla Mueller, a humanitarian worker killed by ISIL (also known as ISIS)
Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Tom Perez to Appear on Politico’s New Streaming Series “Plug In with Playbook”

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Tom Perez is getting Politico…

The 58-year-old Dominican American politician, attorney and current chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), will appear on Politico’s new streaming series, which is tied to its popular Playbook newsletter and franchise.

Tom Perez

Politico’s Plug In with Playbook will be streamed at 9:00 AM ET each morning from the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention.

The Democrats’ convention will begin on August 17,  and Republicans’ convention will launch a week later, on August 24.

Plans for the show will move forward even though both conventions will be virtual.

On Wednesday, Democrats announced that Joe Biden would no longer travel to Milwaukee to deliver his acceptance speech and instead would do so from his home state of Delaware.

Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, co-authors of Playbook, will anchor the 45-minute show, with plans to interview politicians and party insiders.

In addition to Perez, guests for the DNC include convention CEO Joe Solmonese, Biden campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders, and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who was the vice presidential nominee in 2016.

Kevin McLaughlin, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is one of the guests so far during the week of the GOP convention.

Plug In with Playbook also will feature “deep-dive political segments and conversations with Politico journalists, as well as analysis of down-ballot races and a look at this cycle’s swing states. The show may continue at key moments during the campaign.

The show will be live-streamed on Politico’s conventions hub, with a link on Politico’s homepage.

Rubio Named the Winner of the First Republican Debate

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Marco Rubio is gaining some respect in his presidential bid…

The 44-year-old Cuban American politician, the junior U.S. Senator from Florida, has emerged as the real winner of the first debate among 10 of the 17 candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination despite the show put on by business tycoon Donald Trump.

Marco Rubio

The nation’s leading media and analysts unanimously gave the win to Rubio – he managed to present himself as the new blood the party needs to inspire voters and defeat the Democratic favorite, Hillary Clinton.

Rubio jumped into the national arena as a senator in 2010, and two years later made a name for himself with his nominating speech for Mitt Romney at the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Nonetheless, Rubio came into the debate as seventh in the polls, far below the big favorites – Trump, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

The latter two disappointed in a debate where they were supposed to look “presidential” in contrast to the buffoonery of Trump, whose outrageous remarks have been the big news of the campaign over the past six weeks.

They committed no real gaffes, but neither Bush nor Walker excited the crowd, while Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie engaged in a heated argument about government spying, and Ohio Governor John Kasich had a good night in front of a supportive audience in Cleveland.

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Texas Senator Ted Cruz were the invisible men on a night when, except for a few out-of-line remarks, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee also went unnoticed though he came into the debate fourth in the polls.

“Natural talent tends to shine through in big moments when the bright lights turn on. The senator from Florida, who had dipped in polls after a bump in the wake of his announcement, was terrific on Thursday night,” the Washington Post said Friday.

Rubio, without getting theatrical, managed to sell better than any other candidate his “American dream” – he has built an admirable political career despite being the son of a waiter and a housekeeper who left Cuba before the 1959 revolution.

“If I’m our nominee, how is Hillary Clinton gonna lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck? I was raised paycheck to paycheck,” he said.

“How is she – how is she gonna lecture me – how is she gonna lecture me about student loans? I owed over $100,000 just four years ago. If I’m our nominee, we will be the party of the future,” Rubio said.

Besides shaking up the list of favorites, the debate also served to show that Republicans remain very much on the right, which makes life difficult for the most moderate of them, Jeb Bush, and distances them from voting groups that are key to regaining the White House after its eight years as home to a Democrat.

“Overall, however, the debate did little to expand the appeal of the Republican brand. With the exception of Bush’s advocacy of immigration reform, the candidates offered little that would make their party more palatable to the portions of the electorate – especially women, young adults, and minorities – where they have struggled in recent presidential elections,” said William A. Galston, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and former advisor to ex-President Bill Clinton.

“The party’s eventual nominee will have to do more to convince persuadable voters that Republicans stand for more than the sentiments of their aging, mostly white, mainly male, and highly disgruntled base,” the political analyst said.

Rubio Tops List of Latino Speakers at the Republican National Convention

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The 2012 Republican National Convention is officially underway in Tampa… And in its quest to woo more Hispanic voters, the GOP is shining a spotlight on the Republican Party’s rising Latino stars, including Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida.

Marco Rubio

Currently fewer than three in 10 Latino voters prefer Mitt Romney to President Barack Obama. If Romney can’t expand that number in the next two and a half months, he’ll have to run up a large percentage of the white vote to win the presidential election come November.

In 2004, President George W. Bush received more than 40% of the Hispanic vote, and won a narrow re-election. Four years later, Senator John McCain received less than a third of Latino voters, and lost the race.

So the RNC and an array of groups—the Hispanic Leadership Conference, the Latino Coalition, the Libre Initiative—are sponsoring several parties and events dedicated to Latino themes, with a never-before-seen level of attention being placed on Hispanic issues.

Only eight people will deliver primetime speeches that will be carried live on all three national networks on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Three of them will be Hispanics: Lucé Vela, the first lady of Puerto Rico; Susana Martinez, the governor of New Mexico; and Rubio.

Marco Rubio

Rubio, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba, has been given what could be considered the biggest assignment of all.

Rubio, who was named this spring as one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine, will speak right before Romney takes the stage to accept his party’s nomination. In announcing his high-profile appearance, Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoads praised Sen. Rubio as “the future of the Republican Party.”

Luce Vela

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico’s first lady Vela, a native of the island who attended college in Maryland, is scheduled to introduce Romney’s wife, Ann, at the convention on Tuesday night.

The high-profile post is a prime opportunity for Vela to introduce herself to Republicans — especially women and Hispanics — nationwide.

Susana Martinez

And finally, Martinez—the first Hispanic female governor in the U.S.—will take the stage before keynote speaker Gov. Chris Christie at the convention. The critical time slot, second only to that of the keynote speaker has been consistently reserved for the party’s up-and-coming talent – Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2004.

Other Latinos expected to speak at the convention include U.S. Senate nominee Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and Tea Party favorite, and Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño.