Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said he is unsure whether football player Tim Tebow will be speaking at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but added that there will be no lack of speakers on the stage next week.
“I don’t know what happened between the announcement of Tebow and an invitation. I do know we have a lot of people that want to speak. The idea that people are not wanting to speak is not true,” Manafort said on CNN Friday morning.
As the Trump campaign releases its speaker list for the convention, many have wondered whether prominent Republicans are refusing his invitations. Tebow was originally on the list, it is still be determined if he will speak. On Thurday, Tebow said reports that he was speaking were rumors. Also noticeably absent was former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Manafort explained that the Trump campaign members are not the “administrative agents” who determines who speaks, but they are involved in ensuring that the program has the “strategic framework” that they want.
“We have some of the major political candidates, like Ted Cruz, like [Wisconsin Gov. Scott] Walker, even Marco Rubio is sending a video,” Manafort said. “But also, this is a different convention. It is different, because we don’t want it to be about the establishment. We want it to be about change. And so a number of the speakers are people like Tim Tebow, ordinary Americans.”
