With their own former reality TV star now heading the presidential ticket in Donald Trump, the Republicans have lined up a few Hollywood TV types to speak at the convention, including actor Scott Baio, UFC chief Dana White, and actors more used to daytime dramas than political theater.
According to the GOP convention website, leading off the primetime speakers Monday evening will be high-profileTrump supporter and Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, who shares both Trump's Republican leanings and reality TV chops.
Also on the list for Monday is Scott Baio, who campaigned for Reagan, according to the GOP, and endorsed Trump in the primary. Baio is familiar to baby boomers from Happy Days and its spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi, as well as Charles In Charge. He has more recently been on Arrested Development and appears in and produces Nick at Nite comedy See Dad Run, in which he plays the stay-at-home husband to a soap opera star wife.
The Progressive Change Campaign took a shot at that TV lineup. "Voters want less Duck Dynasty and more debt-free college, less Charles in Charge and more ideas that put workers in charge, coming from their presidential candidates," said PCCC Press Secretary Kait Sweeney.
On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White will be mixing it up. The GOP points out that "Trump hosted the once-controversial mixed martial arts competitions at his Trump Taj Mahal casino property when other venues shunned the sport."
Perhaps because the GOP nominating process has had all the twists and turns and tumult of an afternoon drama, at least a couple of soap actors will be making speeches.
Rounding out the Monday night TV actor speaker lineup is Antonio Sabato, Jr., familiar to daytime TV viewers for roles on General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. Then, on Tuesday, Kimberlin Brown (The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful) will take to the podium. She is also a California avocado farmer but will not be allowed to bring avocados into the Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland since that is on the no-no list.
According to the GOP convention media guide, among the prohibited items in addition to "whole fruit" (the avocado is a “single-seeded berry,” BTW) are umbrellas, WiFi disruptors, knitting needles, drones and selfie sticks.
