It turns out Donald Trump has some unconventional ideas about how to run the Republican National Convention, because of course he does.
Instead of having another night of speeches made by actual republican policymakers, Trump floated the idea of having a “winner’s evening” during the convention at one of his rallies on Friday. The presumptive Republican Presidential nominee said he wanted to bring out a group of notable figures from the world of sports to address the convention instead of speeches from Republican Party leaders.
Trump has picked up his fair share of famous sports supporters. Notable angry, old white men Bobby Knight, Rex Ryan, Lou Holtz, and Gene Keady have all demonstrated support for Trump in one manner or another.
During his Friday rally, Trump claimed to have the support of many other notable white sportsmen as well. He said NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, UFC President Dana White, and NASCAR chief executive Brian France support his campaign for president and would all be potential keynote speakers at next month’s convention.
Based on his comments to the crowd, this idea is an attempt by Trump to reinforce an image of a man who exudes an aura of “winning” through some sort of transference effect with literal sports winners.
“Our country needs to see winners,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “We don’t see winners anymore. We have a bunch of clowns running this country. We have people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing running our country.”
However, if Trump was truly attuned to the sports world, he would recognize the error in tying his campaign closely to sports at the Republican National Convention. After all, if the last 50-plus years has taught us anything, it is that hopeful champions to come from the city of Cleveland will only be met with crushing defeat upon reaching the biggest stage.
