President Donald Trump placed himself squarely at the center of the spectacle.
Closing out the first Republican Midterm Convention, Trump urged the crowd of supporters to take a pledge directed not to the party platform, but to him personally.
“Please raise your right hand,” Trump told attendees, before prompting them to pledge to “the greatest president in the history of the United States” — someone, he said, who “loves us so much he can’t even breathe.”
He continued in the same theatrical vein, telling supporters they should head out with relatives and friends and do whatever it takes, joking that even if they were not registered, they should “try to cheat like hell like they do.”
Trump also teased the audience with a question about what happens to those who fail to vote, before delivering his punchline: “You go to hell.”
Democrats quickly pounced on the scene. The party’s rapid-response “Headquarters” account branded the pledge moment “a cult ritual.”
Tim Hogan, a Democratic messaging adviser, dismissed the broader GOP midterm convention as “a stunningly pointless exercise for the Republicans.”
Trump’s Thursday appearance was comparatively brief, running less than 30 minutes — a sharp contrast with the nearly two-hour speech he delivered the previous night.
He was preceded on stage by Vice President JD Vance who gave remarks for approximately 40 minutes.
Vance’s speech on Thursday focused on a variety of bread and butter GOP issues including, affordability, border security, and the defense of the nuclear family.
President Donald Trump speaks on stage on the second day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 10, 2026 in Dallas, Texas
Musician Lee Greenwood greets President Donald Trump as he takes the stage to speak on the second day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 10, 2026 in Dallas, Texas
President Donald Trump arrives on stage at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, on September 10, 2026
Vance was interrupted in his midterm convention speech on Thursday when a heckler waving a Mexican flag cut him off, screaming ‘Free Palestine’ inside the packed Dallas arena.
Video captured by Our News Outlet from inside the convention center showed the man pulling out a Mexican flag first, then pulling out the Palestinian flag.
The flags were pulled out of his pocket and then thrown at the crowd.
Vance addressed the breach, noting, ‘what the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.’
He then spoke to the heckler, adding ‘well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a** over there! I’ll buy you a plane ticket.’
The crowd erupted in chants of ‘USA,’ handing Vance his most electric moment in what before that was a largely humdrum political speech.
Several candidates in the country’s most competitive races this fall skipped the main stage in Dallas, among them Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson who is running for the US Senate in Iowa, and John E Sununu, the Republican nominee trying to flip New Hampshire’s Senate seat red.
Most prognosticators expect Democrats to win back the US House of Representatives, but the Senate will be tougher with battleground races in Maine, Ohio, Michigan and Alaska set to determine control.
US Senate nominees including Ken Paxton of Texas, Michael Whatley of North Carolina, and Mike Collins of Georgia all spoke, as did incumbent Ohio Senator Jon Husted.
Trump’s cabinet secretaries including Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Brooke Rollins, Scott Bessent, Dr Mehmet Oz, and even Attorney General Todd Blanche were on the agenda as well.
The two-day event also included a tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University last September.
Trump paid homage to Kirk, and his wife Erika during his remarks on Wednesday, calling his murder a ‘shock,’ as well as the people who ‘made an excuse for it or cheered for it.’
As Texas Senator Ted Cruz took the stage in Dallas at the Republican Midterm Convention, attendees had a brutal response to his mentions of some of their top political opponents.
Attendees applaud at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas on September 10
US Senator Ted Cruz speaks during the second day of the Republican National Committee midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on September 10, 2026
People attend the Republican Convention on Thursday, September 10, 2026, in Dallas
A voice in the crowd could be heard yelling ‘he should be shot’ as Cruz spoke about top Democrats including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and Texas Senate nominee James Talarico.
‘When Mamdani says he wants to seize the means of production, he means it,’ Cruz stated from the stage, before the voice yelled out ‘he should be shot.’
‘When Abdul El-Sayed says he has an obligation to Sharia Law, he means it, Cruz continued, before the same voice yelled, ‘he should be shot.’
‘And when James Talarico says he wants to dismantle capitalism, he means it,’ Cruz added, as the same individual repeated, ‘he should be shot.’
The outburst from the crowd came in the same hour that the attendees paid tribute Kirk.
Turning Point USA’s Faith Vice President Lucas Miles spoke about Kirk and his legacy on the main stage in Dallas on Thursday, noting, ‘No one will ever replace Charlie Kirk. He had a remarkable vision and the rare ability to bring people together.’
The 25th anniversary of 9/11, taking place on Friday, was also commemorated during Thursday’s programming at the convention.
