What To Expect On The First Night Of The Republican Convention: Nikki Haley, Tim Scott And Donald Trump

Ted Johnson
Updated ·3 min read

The Republican National Convention has already begun, with a morning session in which Donald Trump and Mike Pence will be renominated.

The heart of the proceedings, though, will come this evening, when we’ll finally get a look at how the Trump team manages a very different convention in the midst of the pandemic.

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With a vastly scaled back presence in the host city of Charlotte, Trump plans to deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday from the south lawn of the White House. But he also plans to speak on each of the other three nights, albeit it is not exactly clear when and from where. Trump is visiting North Carolina on Monday, but he is due to return to Washington in the late afternoon.

In contrast to Democrats’ reliance on packages and some taped speeches, Trump has expressed a preference for live events and even those with some semblance of a crowd. The theme of the evenings events is “Land of Promise,” and the proceedings are scheduled to start around 8:30 PM ET.

Broadcast and cable networks plan similar coverage to the RNC that they did last week — albeit the starting time for tonight’s events is a half-hour earlier. One thing to watch is the extent to which some of the outlets try to fact check the president, something that CNN and MSNBC have grappled with in their coverage of Trump’s coronavirus press briefings.

Trump already is complaining that CNN and MSNBC are not covering the roll call of states — which, unlike the Democratic convention, is being held in the morning hours. He also is upset that Fox News, while covering the roll call, is not providing audio.

He tweeted on Monday, “Incredible that @CNN & MSDNC aren’t covering the Roll Call of States. Fake News! This is what the Republican Party is up against. Also, I’d like to hear the remarks of the Delegates from individual States, rather than @FoxNews anchors. Ridiculous!”

Other speakers planned on Monday include Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador, and Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina, as well as Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who rose to fame for brandishing weapons in front of their home during a Black Lives Matter protest. Also getting a speaking role is one of the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr.

Here’s the lineup, in expected order of appearance:

Remarks: Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York

Remarks: Charlie Kirk, founder and president, Turning Point USA

Remarks: Rebecca Friedrichs, public school teacher, California

Remarks: Tanya Weinreis, businesswoman, Montana

Remarks: Matt Gaetz, congressman, Florida

Remarks: Kim Klacik, congressional candidate, Maryland

Remarks: Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman, Republican National Committee

Remarks: Amy Johnson Ford, nurse, Virginia.

Remarks: Dr. G.E. Ghali, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, professor, LSU Health Sciences Center

Remarks: Jim Jordan, congressman, Ohio

Remarks: Herschel Walker, co-chair, President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition

Remarks: Natalie Harp, patient choice advocate

Remarks: Vernon Jones, Democratic Georgia state representative

Remarks: Andrew Pollack, father of victim in 2018 Parkland school massacre

Remarks: Mark and Patricia McCloskey, personal injury law attorneys, St. Louis

Remarks: Kimberly Guilfoyle, national chair, Trump Victory Finance Committee

Remarks: Steve Scalise, House Republican whip

Remarks: Sean Parnell, congressional candidate, Pennsylvania

Remarks: Maximo Alvarez, Cuban immigrant and founder of Sunshine Gasoline

Remarks: Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador

Remarks: Donald Trump Jr.

Remarks: Tim Scott, senator, South Carolina

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