The Republican National Convention has featured some oddball speakers and some even odder ball events. The weirdness will continue on Day 3. Here is a list of some of the most bizarrely noteworthy names scheduled to speak at Wednesday’s convention festivities.
- Pam Bondi, Florida attorney general. Bondi was one of the most mainstream political figures in her state to endorse Trump ahead of March’s crucial Florida primary (which he won). But they’ve had a relationship at least since September 2013, when Bondi’s office announced it might join a probe of Trump University’s alleged scamming of its students. Around that time, Bondi solicited Trump for a campaign donation, a $25,000 check from a Trump family foundation was deposited to a group supporting Bondi, and the investigation was suddenly dropped. Bondi will be speaking about enforcing the law.
- Ted Cruz, Texas senator and 2016 Republican presidential primary candidate. Cruz is a Cuban American, a conservative firebrand, a former Texas solicitor general, and a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He once argued that selling dildos should be illegal. Cruz was also Trump’s principal rival for the Republican nomination and is yet to endorse the nominee, so what he’ll talk about is a bit of a mystery. Over the course of the campaign, Trump repeatedly referred to Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted,” raised the question of whether he had cheated on his wife, Heidi Cruz, insulted Heidi Cruz’s physical appearance, argued Cruz was too Canadian to be U.S. president, and suggested Cruz’s father may have been involved in the murder of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Cruz likes to tell the story of the time he watched hardcore pornography with Sandra Day O’Connor, so maybe he’ll talk about that.
- Eileen Collins, the first female commander of a Space Shuttle mission. Collins has said that she doesn’t want to give a political speech but rather “raise awareness of how the U.S. human space program has slowed over the years.” She is a freaking astronaut.
- Harold Hamm, “CEO and founder of Continental Resources, one of the largest oil producers in the country, shale oil pioneer and 39th richest person in United States.” Hamm recently lost more than $16 billion but after gaining some of it back is still worth more than $10 billion. He once tried to get University of Oklahoma scientists fired because he didn’t like their research into, as Bloomberg News put it, “links between oil and gas activity and the state’s nearly 400-fold increase in earthquakes.”
- Phil Ruffin, casino mogul, Trump business partner, and longtime friend. The Republican nominee introduced Ruffin to his second wife, a former Miss Ukraine, at a Miss Universe pageant and was the best man at their 2008 wedding. Ruffin, 78, wrote his own speech.
- Michelle Van Etten, senior vice chairman marketing director at Youngevity, member of “Women in Business for Trump” group, multilevel marketer. Her official RNC bio originally said that she “employs over 100,000 people and is a strong supporter of Donald Trump,” but that was changed when it was revealed that her actual number of employees is zero. In recent days, her company has come under criticism for making dubious claims about the health properties of its nutraceutical products and for allegedly being a pyramid scheme. Here is how her company pitches some of those products: “Beyond Tangy Tangerine® and Ultimate Classic® both exhibited efficient inhibition on proliferation of cancerous cells at the recommended dosage levels.” Wednesday’s RNC theme is “Make America First Again.”
