--- title: Republican Convention: Duck Dynasty Star Willie Robertson description: Willie Robertson, a reality TV star from A&E's "Duck Dynasty," is one of the primetime speakers at the Republican National Convention. canonical: https://time.com/4410817/republican-convention-willie-robertson-duck-dynasty/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-18T22:49:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:19:47.614Z article:section: Politics og:title: Meet the Duck Dynasty Star Speaking at the GOP Convention og:description: Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander. og:url: https://time.com/4410817/republican-convention-willie-robertson-duck-dynasty/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ef8fdceb9b1e2a/69889c6be20a877f3ba91a31/willie_robertson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3004 og:image:height: 1690 og:image:alt: Willie Robertson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Duck Dynasty Star Speaking at the GOP Convention twitter:description: Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ef8fdceb9b1e2a/69889c6be20a877f3ba91a31/willie_robertson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the _Duck Dynasty_ Star Speaking at the Republican Convention > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 18, 2016 10:49 PM UTC  Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dec. 27, 2014. Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dec. 27, 2014.Al Messerschmidt Archive/AP by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 18, 2016 10:49 PM UTC Willie Robertson, a reality TV star from A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” is one of the primetime speakers at the Republican National Convention on Monday, part of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s unusual lineup of convention speakers. “Duck Dynasty” is a reality TV show showcasing a Louisiana family that owns a duck-hunting business. The family is known for its conservative and religious viewpoints. Robertson, an outdoorsman, serves as CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, and is the New York _Times_ bestselling author of “The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family and Ducks Built a Dynasty.” On Monday, Robert tweeted about his first time at the Republican convention in 2008. > [](https://twitter.com/williebosshog/status/755072892937744384) Robertson is known for socially conservative views, questioning [whether being gay or lesbian is a choice](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/willie-robertson-duck-dynasty-gay-issues%5Fn%5F6342656.html). His father, Phil, suffered a backlash after a 2013 article in GQ [quoted him saying he thinks homosexuality is sinful](http://www.gq.com/story/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson). Phil Robertson endorsed Trump rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, appearing in a memorable ad during the GOP primary that featured the two of them hunting ducks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4410817/republican-convention-willie-robertson-duck-dynasty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4410817/republican-convention-willie-robertson-duck-dynasty/"},"headline":"Meet the Duck Dynasty Star Speaking at the Republican Convention","datePublished":"2016-07-18T22:49:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:19:47.614Z","description":"Willie Robertson, a reality TV star from A&E's \"Duck Dynasty,\" is one of the primetime speakers at the Republican National Convention.","url":"https://time.com/4410817/republican-convention-willie-robertson-duck-dynasty/","keywords":["Republican National Convention","Election 2016","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ef8fdceb9b1e2a/69889c6be20a877f3ba91a31/willie_robertson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ef8fdceb9b1e2a/69889c6be20a877f3ba91a31/willie_robertson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Willie Robertson","caption":"Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dec. 27, 2014.","creditText":"Al Messerschmidt Archive/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republican-national-convention/","name":"Republican National Convention"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4410817/republican-convention-willie-robertson-duck-dynasty/","name":"Meet the Duck Dynasty Star Speaking at the Republican Convention"}}]}] ```