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CLEVELAND, June 29 (UPI) -- Donald Trump is making an effort to appeal to a wide array of sports and music fans at July's Republican National Convention. The presumptive GOP nominee plans for former NFL coach Mike Ditka and college coaching legend Bobby Knight to speak on his behalf, according to Bloomberg Politics.
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Bloomberg Politics also reported that NASCAR chief Brian France and former world heavyweight champ Mike Tyson also plan to speak, but Trump refuted the Tyson report on Twitter.
Iron Mike Tyson was not asked to speak at the Convention though I'm sure he would do a good job if he was. The media makes everything up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2016
The convention is set for July 18 to July 21 in Cleveland. Organizers obviously had a wide age range in mind when they scheduled musical performances by the 1960's band The Beach Boys, 1970's band Journey, Bret Michaels, the front man from the 1980's band Poison, 1980's singer Rick Springfield, 1990's singer Martina McBride, Rascal Flats, and The Band Perry. Third-party groups booked the bands and various private groups will cover the cost of the performances, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Earlier this month, Trump mentioned Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger as possible guests at the convention, according to the New York Times. Roethlisberger later said he would not attend or endorse Trump.
Roethlisberger told me he will not attend the Republican convention and will nor endorse nor speak for the candidate.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) June 11, 2016
Knight and Ditka have been publicly vocal in their support of Trump. In March, Ditka called President Barack Obama the "worst President" ever.
Last month, Knight gave his endorsement of Trump and talked about bombing other countries.
Former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL running back Herschel Walker recently said that his support of Trump has cost him several speaking engagements due to the draw of anti-Trump supporters. Walker still stands by Trump.
