Hulk Hogan to Speak Before Trump at RNC

Hulk Hogan will speak on the last night of the Republican National Convention before Donald Trump formally accepts the Republican presidential nomination, multiple outlets reported on Thursday.

The former wrestler, born Terry Gene Bollea, has had a penchant for making political remarks in recent years. He told the hosts of Fox & Friends last month that he was interested in taking a turn in politics after spending over three decades in wrestling and entrepreneurship. “We need somebody in there that’s got some common sense, you know what I’m saying?” Hogan said. “So if you need a president or a vice president, I’ll volunteer and take this country over, and I’ll rule with an iron fist.”

Hogan also considered running for Senate in Florida in 2018, and has openly criticized pseudo-liberal companies and positions. He appeared on Fox & Friends last month to push his new beer venture, Real American Beer, which the former wrestler said he created after seeing Bud Light’s fallout with conservatives following an ad campaign released with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The can depicts a wrestler waving an American flag, and Hogan said he hopes to “bring America back together, one beer at a time.”

In 2015, he was fired from WWE for using the N-word to describe his daughter’s then-boyfriend years earlier. He released a brief statement at the time apologizing for using “language that is offensive and inconsistent with my beliefs.”

Hogan speaking at the RNC emphasizes the degree to which Trump has turned Republican politics into something akin to professional wrestling, injecting it with name-calling, ostentatious theatrics, and a glitzy cast of characters. One of those characters is Kid Rock, who will also appear at the RNC on Thursday. “You fuck with Trump, you fuck with me!” Kid Rock said in a video posted to X following the assassination attempt against the former president on Saturday.

MAGA lawmakers are on board with all of this. On Monday, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said people should expect Trump’s entrance to look like “Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania.”