MILWAUKEE — Day three of the Republican National Convention will focus on foreign policy with the theme “Making America Strong Again,” and feature speeches from members of Gold Star families and Sen. J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee.
“I don’t want to give anything away,” Rep. Vance (R-Ohio) joked at a press conference Wednesday before the evening session began.
The Republican vice presidential nominee said he had “joked” about the possibility that Trump, 78, might have a problem with his comments tonight.
“We’re not going to fail, but if we do, it’ll be too late. He’s chosen. It’s official now,” Vance said.
The “Hillbilly Elegy” author said he wanted to “elevate the audience” with his speech and “make the case that President Donald J. Trump must be reelected to the White House.”
The speech at the Fiserv Forum is scheduled to begin at 6 pm CST and is expected to touch on the Biden administration’s disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border and the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, among other issues.
Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Ronny Jackson and Matt Gaetz will open the first 30 minutes, with former Acting Director of National Intelligence Rick Grenell and former Ambassador Callista Gingrich also speaking.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Rep. Monica de la Cruz (R-Texas) and former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan are scheduled to speak between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro, who just got out of federal prison after serving a four-month sentence for ignoring a congressional subpoena, is also scheduled to speak.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, East Palestine, Ohio Mayor Trent Conaway and former White House aide Kellyanne Conway will take the stage from 7 to 7:30 p.m. and will be joined by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was informed by Trump on Monday that he would not be chosen as his running mate.
Former First Son Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, are also scheduled to address convention attendees.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) are scheduled to take the stage between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.
The RNC schedule features “ordinary American” speakers such as Medal of Honor recipient and retired Staff Sergeant David Bellavia, military veteran and bourbon entrepreneur Scott Neal, Shavos Kestenbaum, the Harvard alumnus who sued the university over its response to anti-Semitism on campus, and World War II Army veteran Sergeant William Pekrull.
Also scheduled to speak will be Christy Shamblin, Cherry Jewels, Herman Lopez and Alicia Lopez, family members of a U.S. soldier killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport during the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The wife of Trump’s running mate, Usha Chirukuri Vance, is scheduled to introduce her husband around 9:30 p.m.
The 39-year-old senator will be the final speaker of the day and is scheduled to speak until around 10 p.m.
Vance said he was “gutted” by the shooting at Saturday’s Trump rally, but said he was impressed by the former president’s call for “national unity” and “calmness” after the incident.
“Donald Trump got shot and tensions eased,” Vance said.
“That’s what true leaders do.”
