Donald Trump's Campaign saw a recent turn of events. The Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel will be addressing the crowd. He will be the first gay person and who is open about it, to speak at a Republican National Convention.
Thiel is one of the cofounders of PayPal and an outstanding businessman. He is the first outside investor in Facebook.
But Donald Trump's campaign downplayed any significance of having a gay person in the campaign. The convention manager, Paul Manafort, said that Peter Thiel was invited to speak because he is a friend of Trump. He has the credentials to attend the rally and can speak credibly about business.
"He'll be talking about Donald Trump the man he knows and as a successful entrepreneur," Manafort said. "People are going to be speaking at this convention based on what they want to say, not on any particular sexual preference or things like that, so I don't think that's the basis for why he's on the program," he added in a press conference before the convention.
It was just last week that the Republican platform included provisions opposing same-sex marriage and transgender protections. These were approved by a committee. These rights were actually pushed by the Obama Administration. However, the Republican troop decided to brush these aside.
When questioned about this, Paul Manafort stated what the Committee chair said. The National Committee chair Reince Priebus had earlier said that the GOP is "an open-tent party." Here, many people of different views could come together.
Thiel is known for libertarian views on politics and donated to Carly Fiorina's super PAC. He now backs Trump for the position of the President.
