Scott Baio and the guy from Duck Dynasty were the opening acts at the Republican convention
Despite promising unprecedented glitz and glamour, Donald Trump proved unable to attract any A-list stars to the event in Cleveland
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Your support makes all the difference.If Donald Trump is surprised to find himself the presumptive Republican nominee for President, then Scott Baio, better known as Chachi from Happy Days, was probably almost as surprised to find himself speaking to the GOP Convention on Monday night. The actor, along with Willie Robertson of the reality show Duck Dynasty, was one of the unlikely opening acts at the convention in Cleveland.
“America is the greatest country God ever created,” said Mr Baio, 55, who went on to reprise his role as Fonzie’s cousin in an all-fated Happy Days spin-off, Joanie Loves Chachi, which was cancelled in 1983. A Trump supporter who frequently retweets the property mogul’s pronouncements, Mr Baio went on: “Is Donald Trump the Messiah? No, he’s just a man… a man doing this out of the goodness of his heart, because he wants to help.”
An outspoken critic of Hillary Clinton, Mr Baio recently retweeted a controversial meme referring to the presumptive Democratic nominee as a "c***". On stage in Cleveland, he said simply that “Hillary Clinton wants to be president for Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump wants to be president for all of us.”
Mr Baio and Mr Robertson were late additions to a convention schedule that was notably low on celebrity. Hollywood stars have appeared at the GOP's quadrennial blowout before, including Arnold Schwarzenegger (then the Governor of California) in 2004 and Clint Eastwood in 2012, For months, Mr Trump had promised a star-studded event unlike any previous convention, but one by one rumoured celebrity speakers such as Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow and boxing promoter Don King either declined to appear (Tebow) or were reportedly vetoed by GOP leaders (King).
Mr Baio was invited at the eleventh hour, apparently on a whim. “I actually was at a fundraiser for Mr Trump the other night with my wife, and he invited me to speak at the convention, which was completely unexpected and out of left field,” the actor told Fox News at the weekend. In Cleveland, he echoed Mr Trump’s campaign slogan, urging the audience: “Let's not just make America great again, let's make America America again!”
Mr Robertson, a longtime supporter of Mr Trump who endorsed the businessman back in January, boasted of having boarded “the Trump train” early. In his brief speech – the very first primetime address of the convention - he assured a receptive crowd of delegates: “No matter who you are, Donald Trump will have your back."
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