Tonight’s RNC convention is filled with a cast of characters in the mold of Trump himself. They’ve shared his hateful and divisive rhetoric, they’ve downplayed the coronavirus, they’ve peddled conspiracies, they’re wasting taxpayers dollars — you name it, they’ve done it. Looking at this list, it’s clear that there will be no new tone from this convention.

Donald Trump Jr.:

Twitter restricted Don Jr.’s account after he shared false information about hydroxychloroquine and mask-wearing from a doctor who believes alien DNA and demon sperm cause ailments.

The Daily Beast: “A Houston doctor who praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren’t necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus has become a star on the right-wing internet, garnering tens of millions of views on Facebook on Monday alone. Donald Trump Jr. declared the video of Stella Immanuel a ‘must watch,’ while Donald Trump himself retweeted the video.”

Don Jr. consistently courts alt-right figures and promotes fringe conspiracy theories.

Business Insider: “Donald Trump Jr. Has A Long History Of Spreading Misinformation And Conspiracy Theories Online.”

Don Jr.’s business travel has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

CNN: “The report says protective details for the President’s sons and their spouses on the trips to Uruguay, the Dominican Republic and the United Arab Emirates cost about $396,000. Commercial aircraft was used for these trips and no military aircraft supported their travel, the report says.”

Washington Post: “The State Department spent more than $15,000 to book 19 rooms at the new Trump hotel in Vancouver when members of President Trump’s family headlined the grand opening of the tower in late February. … The president’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, their spouses, and the president’s daughter, Tiffany, were flanked by a heavy security presence on Feb. 28 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a VIP party hosted by developer Joo Kim Tiah, the son of one of Malaysia’s wealthiest businessmen.”

Washington Post: “Donald Trump Jr.’s trip to India to sell his family’s luxury condominium projects cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $100,000, documents obtained by The Washington Post show. The Department of Homeland Security, responding to a Freedom of Information request, released 47 pages of purchase orders, requisition forms and planning worksheets showing Trump Jr.’s February trip cost more than $97,805 for hotel rooms, airfare, car rental and overtime for Secret Service agents. The costs were incurred on a February tour of four Indian cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata — where the Trump family has licensed its name to luxury high-rise projects.”

CBS News: “President Trump’s sons’ visit to Dubai this week has costed taxpayers a minimum of $73,000 in security costs, according to government purchase orders viewed by CBS News. … Eric and Donald Trump Jr. traveled to Dubai to spend time with the Trump Organization’s Middle East business partner Hussain Sajwani and his family. Sajwani’s daughter is getting married, according to the Trump Organization and tweets from Sajwani.”

Ronna McDaniel:

The RNC has spent more than $2.4 million at Trump properties since McDaniel became chair.

Forbes: “Donald Trump has not given a dime to his reelection campaign, opting instead to fund the entire effort with his donors’ money … Then there’s the Republican National Committee, which has spent an additional $2.4 million at Trump properties.”

Under McDaniel, the RNC transferred $170,000 to support Roy Moore’s campaign after he was accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls.

Associated Press: “Looking past allegations of sexual misconduct with Alabama teenagers, President Donald Trump formally endorsed Moore, and the Republican National Committee quickly followed suit, transferring $170,000 to the Alabama Republican Party to bolster Moore’s candidacy.”

Major scandals have engulfed the top four members of the RNC’s finance team during McDaniel’s tenure.

MSNBC: “Scandals Engulf Multiple RNC Finance Chairs.”

Politico: “Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and a former Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman, is just the latest such figure to be felled after he copped this week to eight felony charges. He is part of a troika of GOP finance officials taken down by scandal this year, after Las Vegas casino giant Steve Wynn and venture capitalist Elliott Broidy left the party’s leadership ranks over allegations of sexual harassment and paying off a mistress, respectively.”

New York Times: “‘While we must take any allegations like these seriously, everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and due process,’ she said in a statement. ‘Over the last year and a half, multiple investigations into the allegations against Steve Wynn have concluded. Throughout this entire process, Steve has repeatedly and unequivocally denied wrongdoing, and he has not been charged with or found guilty of any crimes. At this point, there is no reason for refusing his support.’”

Tim Scott:

Tim Scott was one of only eight senators to vote against the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

WCIV: “With a vote of 90-8, lawmakers have passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act … South Carolina Senator Tim Scott was one of the eight people who voted against the bill.”

Scott said he voted against the relief bill because its plan to increase unemployment benefits was “unfair to all Americans who are working.”

Fox News: “Sen. Tim Scott appeared on ‘Fox & Friends’ Thursday to explain the rationale behind his and other senators’ objections to certain components of the massive $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package passed the day before by the Senate … Scott said that senators objecting to the coronavirus relief bill want to make sure that Americans are ‘whole’ as they remain unemployed, not getting a raise. ‘That would be unfair to all Americans who are working and we believe in this country in the dignity of work,’ Scott said.”

Kimberly Guilfoyle:

Guilfoyle, who failed to take Covid-19 seriously, contracted the virus and then left her staff to quarantine for days at a campaign stopevent while she hopped on a private jet to New York.

Politico: “News that Kimberly Guilfoyle contracted the coronavirus had barely surfaced on July 3 before she hopped on a private flight from Mount Rushmore back to New York with her boyfriend, Donald Trump, Jr. Left behind in her wake after President Donald Trump’s pre-Independence Day address were more than a half-dozen junior campaign staffers whom Guilfoyle oversees as the president’s national finance chair. The aides, who’d been in proximity to Guilfoyle, were forced to quarantine in their Rapid City, S.D., hotel rooms for three days and barred from face-to-face contact with colleagues as they pleaded with the campaign to get them home.”

Guilfoyle was paid $15,000/month through Brad Parscale’s private company rather than the campaign, avoiding public disclosure.

HuffPost: “Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of eldest son Donald Trump Jr., and Lara Trump, wife of middle son Eric Trump, are each receiving $15,000 a month, according to two GOP sources who are informal White House advisers and who spoke on condition of anonymity. They were unsure when the payments began but say they are being made by campaign manager Bradley Parscale through his company rather than directly by either the campaign or the party in order to avoid public reporting requirements. ‘I can pay them however I want to pay them,’ Parscale told HuffPost on Friday, but then declined to comment any further.”

Nikki Haley:

Haley defended Trump’s tweets calling Baltimore “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” and said people should focus on the fact that Trump offered to help Baltimore

Rolling Stone: “Haley has continued to offer support for the president since leaving his Cabinet, including earlier this week when she defended his tweets describing Cummings’ congressional as ‘a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess’ where ‘no human being would want to live.’ ‘Instead of all of this back and forth about who everyone thinks is racist and whose not, the President just offered to help the people of Baltimore,’ Haley tweeted on Tuesday. ‘They should take him up on it. Let’s put the same energy into where it will make a difference.’”

Haley previously said Trump represented “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.”

CNN: “Nikki Haley is not a fan of Donald Trump. The Republican South Carolina governor said Tuesday that she’s not sure if she’ll endorse anyone for president ahead of the Republican South Carolina primary, but if she does, it won’t be Trump, according to CNN affiliate WIS Television in Columbia. She said Trump represents ‘everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.’”

Matt Gaetz:

Gaetz wore a gas mask on the House floor when he voted on the coronavirus relief bill, days later he self quarantined.

Time: “As Congress worked to pass an $8.3 billion emergency funding to address the mounting coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida wore a large gas mask on the House floor.”

The Hill: “‘I’ve just been informed that my COVID-19 lab result was negative,’ he tweeted…. The Florida Republican said on Monday that he had interacted with the infected individual at CPAC and would self-quarantine. He flew on Air Force One on Monday and reportedly sat by himself at the back of the plane after learning of the contact.”

The Trump administration cut funding for vitala coronavirus researcher in the wake of a “political disinformation campaign” that led back to Gaetz.

CBS News: “Peter Daszak is a scientist whose work is helping in the search for a COVID-19 cure. So why did the president just cancel Daszak’s funding? … But his funding from the NIH, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was killed, two weeks ago, by a political disinformation campaign targeting China’s Wuhan Institute. On April 14, Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz claimed China’s Wuhan Institute had, quote, ‘birthed a monster.’ Gaetz is a vigorous defender of the president. He’s been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly threatening a witness against Mr. Trump and he led a protest to delay impeachment testimony.”

CBS News: “Trump administration cuts funding for coronavirus researcher, jeopardizing possible COVID-19 cure”

Gaetz compared Black Lives Matter to the Confederacy and said America was facing a “cultural genocide.” 

Forbes: “On Saturday evening, Congressman Matt Gaetz  (R-FL) made a series of provocative comments on Fox News in which he compared the Black Lives Matter movement to the American Confederacy. The controversial congressman also claimed America is facing a cultural genocide, diminishing actual genocides such as the Holocaust and American Slavery … ‘So this isn’t about slavery or fascism, or even race,’ Gaetz said. ‘There is an attempted cultural genocide going on in America right now and it calls for patriots to stand up and say, ‘“This is a great country — It is worthy of our pride and our defense.’”’”

Jim Jordan:

Jordan claims he has never heard Trump lie.

Newsweek: “Watch: GOP Congressman Jim Jordan says he’s never heard Trump lie, fumbles when confronted with evidence.”

Jordan said that instead of another round of stimulus for coronavirus relief, Americans should go back to work.

HOST: “What are your thoughts on the need for another round of stimulus and how quickly do you think you need to get that out to the American people?” JORDAN: “BestThat stimulus, Dana, is to go back to work.”

Charlie Kirk:

Kirk is “among the louder voices stoking conservative skepticism of the threat posted by Covid-19 and using the pandemic as political cudgel.”

New York Times: “Mr. Kirk doesn’t always let facts get in the way of scoring points, and in recent months he has been among the louder voices stoking conservative skepticism of the threat posed by Covid-19 and using the pandemic as political cudgel.”

Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization that is “rife’ with racism and anti-Semitism and has attracted support from white nationalists.

The Daily Beast: “Conservative Campus Org Turning Point USA ‘Rife’ With Racism, Possibly Illegal Campaign Activity.”

Steve Scalise:

Scalise spoke at a white supremacist gathering in 2002 and once dubbed himself “David Duke without the baggage.”

Washington Post: “House Majority Whip Scalise Confirms He Spoke To White Supremacists In 2002.”

New York Times: “Stephanie Grace, a Louisiana political reporter and columnist for the past 20 years, first with The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and now The Advocate of Baton Rouge, recalled her first meeting with Mr. Scalise. ‘He was explaining his politics and we were in this getting-to-know-each-other stage,” Ms. Grace said. ‘He told me he was like David Duke without the baggage. I think he meant he supported the same policy ideas as David Duke, but he wasn’t David Duke, that he didn’t have the same feelings about certain people as David Duke did.’”

Scalise’s PAC invited lobbyists to a four-day “summer meeting” at Disney World at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Axios: “House Minority Whip Steve Scalise’s PAC is inviting lobbyists to attend a four-day ‘Summer Meeting’ at Disney World’s Polynesian Village in Florida, all but daring donors to swallow their concern about coronavirus and contribute $10,000 to his leadership PAC. Why it matters: Scalise appears to be the first House lawmakers to host an in-person destination fundraiser since the severity of pandemic became clear. The invite for the ‘Summer Meeting’ for the Scalise Leadership Fund, obtained by Axios, makes no mention of COVID-19 … The July 31-Aug. 3 PAC event is scheduled for Florida, where COVID-19 cases have been surging.”

Scalise said Trump’s pardons of military officers charged with war crimes boosted troop morale.

Politico: “House Minority Whip Steve Scalise on Sunday voiced his support for President Donald Trump’s pardons of two Army officers who were accused of war crimes, arguing the move boosts morale in the military. ‘I’ve heard from our men and women in uniform for years that they felt that they were sidelined because they needed a team of attorneys before they could return fire in the battlefield,’ the Louisiana Republican said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’ ‘I think our troops’ morale is much higher — troops that I’ve heard from — because this has been a concern.”

Rebecca Friedrichs:

Friedrichs said that public schools were grooming children for sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Rebecca Friedrichs Op-Ed: “Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent arrest on charges of luring underage girls for sexual exploitation by Jeffrey Epstein has many feeling justice is just around the corner for a number of evil people. However, if we as a society are so disturbed by the actions of Epstein, Miss Maxwell and an untold number of others, then why are we allowing America’s public schools to groom our children to be sexualized?”

Friedrichs claimed that teachers were using the closure of schools over coronavirus fears as a smokescreen to sexualize children and send them pornographic material.

Rebecca Friedrichs Op-Ed: “Leading this despicable charge are unions posing as teachers and the deceptively named Healthy Teen Network, a coalition of over 180 sexual and reproductive-health justice organizations, including the CDC, Planned Parenthood and SIECUS whose motto is ‘Sex Ed for social change.’ Their collective call to action demands funding and legislation for their brand of sex education, which they assert is a ‘human right.’ During COVID-19 shutdowns, as good teachers scrambled to deliver virtual reading and math instruction, the coalition slipped pornographic material into teacher resources and encouraged educators to give students access. The materials appear so child-friendly, many teachers provide access to abuse without knowing it.”

FRIEDRICHS: “So it is very important that we open our schools. That is true. The unions are using the closure of our schools as a smokescreen. Laura, here’s why. Sadly, these unions are actually using our schools to sexualize our children and to train them in anti-American ideology. They do this with the collision of over 180 organizations, including, sadly, the CDC, Planned Parenthood, and Black Lives Matter incorporated.”

Friedrichs said that public schools being closed as a result of Covid was “the number one best thing that could have ever happened to our country” because public schools shouldn’t exist.

FRIEDRICHS: “I think the most wonderful thing that’s happened in years, and quite frankly is an answer to my prayers, and that is our children are right now rescued from our public schools. And our teachers are rescued too … But the fact that our public schools are closed right now is the number one best thing that could ever have happened to this country. My hope, and I think the silver lining is, that there was a survey a couple of weeks ago that showed that over 40% of Americans surveyed said that they are strongly considering keeping their children home and homeschooling them after this pandemic is over. Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful. My hope—see, our schools were never meant to be public schools. They were never meant to be government-run, our founders were so clear about that.”

Sean Parnell:

Parnell painted Black Lives Matter supporters as “enemies of America.”

Pittsburgh City Paper: “While Lamb has taken stances that rankle progressives, like a recent vote against a bill supporting legalizing recreational marijuana, Parnell hasn’t campaigned on any stances that might be supported by liberals or moderates. In fact, he has even painted Black Lives Matters supporters, some of whom have held peaceful protests in parts of the 17th District, as the ‘enemies of America.’”

Parnell said the notion that women don’t need men to achieve success, have a child or simply live a fulfilling life was “nonsense.” 

PARNELL: “In a Sept. 17, 2019 appearance on Fox Nation, about one month before he announced his run to challenge U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Mt. Lebanon), Parnell says that modern-day feminism has driven a wedge between men and women. ‘The idea that a woman doesn’t need a man to be successful, the idea that a woman doesn’t need a man to have a baby, the idea that a woman can live a happy and fulfilling life without a man, I think it’s all nonsense,’ said Parnell.”

Kim Klacik:

Klacik echoed Trump’s irresponsible and offensive rhetoric on coronavirus, defending the use of the term “Chinese virus” and opposing safer voting with mail-in ballots.

KLACIK:  “Will people apologize for calling @realDonaldTrump racist for calling the #Coronavirus the #ChineseVirus now that we know it was concocted in a lab in China? He deserves an apology.”

KLACIK: “‘Mail In’ elections hurt those that need to be heard the most. In Baltimore it was those that rent their homes that never received a ballot. Over 40k ballots were undelivered in my Special Election. Voter suppression of lower income households. A big chunk of my supporters.”

Klacik attacked the Black Lives Matter movement as anti-American and labeled them “Obama’s mob.”

KLACIK: “Do you remember when @BarackObama was under fire for supporting Jeremiah Wright in 2008? To counter it he wrote, ‘A More Perfect Union’. If you look at BLM’s mission they support Wright’s perspective, Anti-white, Anti-America & Antisemitism. BLM is Obama’s mob.”

Mark and Patricia McCloskey:

Mark and Patricia McCloskey currently face felony charges for waving firearms “in a threatening manner” at nonviolent Black Lives Matter protesters.  

NPR: “The McCloskeys face felony charges for waving firearms ‘in a threatening manner’ at demonstrators as they marched through the couple’s neighborhood en route to the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, who lives nearby … A circuit attorney for the city of St. Louis, Kimberly Gardner, announced last month that both of the McCloskeys face one charge of unlawful use of a weapon, which is a class E felony. ‘It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest, and while we are fortunate this situation did not escalate into deadly force, this type of conduct is unacceptable in St. Louis,’ Gardner said in a statement.”

The McCloskeys have accused neighbors of breaking rules by allowing unmarried gay couples to live in their gated community and evicted a tenant during the COVID pandemic.

The Daily Beast: “The couple have been in litigation with their gated neighborhood almost continually since they moved in in 1988 (after a lawsuit to buy the property, which had been in sales talks with someone else). The McCloskeys have repeatedly filed suits over small neighborhood issues, accusing neighbors of encroaching on their land or breaking neighborhood rules by allowing unmarried gay couples to live there.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “The second tenant signed a lease for $950 per month last November, and failed to pay rent in April and May. The McCloskeys filed an eviction suit on May 12 and Mark McCloskey filed an affidavit stating that he was not barred by federal law from evicting someone during the COVID-19 pandemic because the unit was not part of a federal housing rental program.”