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Donald Trump’s campaign aides are lining up a slate of iconic sports figures to appear at the convention in Cleveland next month—including former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, and NASCAR chief Brian France, people familiar with the planning told Bloomberg Politics.
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Talks are in the works with a broad slate of other celebrities and top athletes, so the list of those appearing at the convention will grow, organizers said. But former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, one of the athletes the campaign was lining up, is not attending, according to his publicist on Wednesday. Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, another sports legend organizers planned to feature, denied he had been contacted by the Trump campaign.
In a radio interview on Wednesday, Ivanka Trump confirmed the talks, saying “it’s not gonna be a ho-hum lineup of the typical politicians.”
“It’s gonna be a great combination of our great politicians,” she said, according to Buzzfeed, “but also great American businessmen and women and leaders across industry and leaders across really all the sectors, from athletes to coaches and everything in between.”
But much of Trump’s current list of sports champs seems to be more targeted at male voters age 45 and older, rather than minority and female voters.
The sports stars’ specific roles at the convention have not yet been finalized, and it is unclear whether any of them will speak on stage to delegates and television cameras. Representatives of those lined up to appear did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After this story’s publication, Trump said at least one of the sports figures, Tyson, wasn’t asked to fill a speaking role. News of Tyson’s involvement had sparked disapproval online on the same night Trump likened the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to “rape.”
“Iron Mike Tyson was not asked to speak at the Convention though I’m sure he would do a good job if he was,” Trump tweeted. “The media makes everything up!”
On Wednesday, Jo Mignano, Tyson’s personal publicist, told Bloomberg Politics that the former boxer will not attend the convention. “He’ll be nowhere near Cleveland,” she said.
Trump has boasted in the past about his endorsement by Tyson, who has re-emerged in popular culture in recent years with roles in popular movies like “Hangover” and the publishing of a well-received memoir.
“Mike Tyson endorsed me, I love it,” Trump said in April in Indiana. “You know, all the tough guys endorse me. I like that.”
Following the Indiana rally, Trump was criticized for touting the endorsement of Tyson, who had served three years in prison after being convicted in the state for raping a beauty pageant contestant.
Trump has said on the campaign trail that he wants the event to be a gathering of “winners”—and not politicians, like at past conventions. “We’re going to do it a little different, if that’s OK,” he said in Virginia earlier this month. “I’m thinking about getting some of the great sports people who like me a lot.”
Trump frequently credits the endorsement from the chair-throwing Knight for his Indiana primary victory. Tyson and France have publicly backed Trump, and Ditka has voiced strong support for the presumptive Republican nominee.
On Wednesday, Ditka told the Chicago Tribune that he was “happy to do it” but was unaware of any talks to appear at the convention.
Separately, third-party groups have booked musicians to perform at venues throughout Cleveland during the July 18-21 convention: the quintessential 1960s-era surfer band The Beach Boys; 1970s-era rock band Journey; Bret Michaels, the frontman of the 1980s-era metal band Poison; 80s hitmaker Rick Springfield: country singer Martina McBride, who rose to stardom in the 1990s; country band Rascal Flatts, who formed in Ohio in 1999; and The Band Perry, a siblings trio known for country pop songs.
The cost for the musical performances will be covered by various private groups, not the Republican National Committee or the convention’s host committee, said Kirsten Kukowski, convention spokeswoman. She declined to comment on program details.
The organizations hosting the concerts are Concerts for a Cause, the Creative Coalition, the Cleveland Clinic’s educational foundation, law firm Jones Day’s foundation and others.
The design for the stage, with curving white staircases and a huge digital screen made up of more than 600 LED panels, was unveiled at a news conference Tuesday inside Quicken Loans Arena.
