By Hulk Hogan will speak tonight at the Republican National Convention before former president Donald Trump formally accepts the GOP nomination for president, multiple outlets reported on Thursday.
Today marks the end of the convention, a four-day event in Milwaukee to shore up Republican support for Trump. The event began days after a failed assassination attempt on the presumptive nominee at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
Trump on Monday picked U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate and will speak publicly tonight for the first time since the assassination attempt.
Hogan, a Tampa Bay area native and former professional wrestler, is among several figures in the fighting world slated to speak ahead of Trump. Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Linda McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment and head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, will also take the stage.
Hogan has in recent years inched closer to the political spotlight. In a June interview on Fox & Friends, the 70-year-old celebrity said, “If you need a president or a vice president, I’ll volunteer and take this country over, and I’ll rule with an iron fist.”
Hogan said in 2018 that he considered running for Florida Senate and said people urged him to run for governor and mayor.
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, also has close ties to the tech mogul who helped boost Vance’s political career.
Peter Thiel, a billionaire entrepreneur and Republican megadonor, bankrolled Hogan’s successful 2013 lawsuit against the gossip site Gawker.
Thiel played a key role in Vance’s rise to the presidential ticket. In 2022 Thiel donated $15 million to Vance’s 2022 campaign for the Senate. The investor this year placed calls encouraging Trump to choose Vance as his running mate, according to reporting by the New York Times.
In a post on Truth Social Monday, Trump praised Vance for his “successful business career in Technology and Finance.”
Other notable speakers tonight include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Eric Trump and Tucker Carlson.
