Vice President JD Vance was among the last major voices to address the inaugural Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas on Thursday, helping close out a two-day gathering that drew more than 20,000 MAGA supporters to Texas.
Vance’s speech was briefly derailed midway through when a protester carrying a Mexican flag interrupted from the crowd and shouted, “Free Palestine.”
The vice president quickly acknowledged the disruption, telling attendees, “What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.”
Turning his attention to the heckler, Vance added, “Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there! I’ll buy you a plane ticket.”
Before the commotion broke out on the convention floor, Vance had already moved into a combative stretch of his remarks, leaning into the sharp-edged political messaging that has become a hallmark of major Republican events.
Vance was not the only high-profile Republican on the main stage Thursday. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, widely viewed as a possible contender in the 2028 presidential race, also addressed the Dallas convention crowd.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has reportedly told people privately that he does not plan to pursue a 2028 White House campaign, was absent from both the main stage and the Dallas event. Rubio was in Peru during the week instead.
Even so, several conventiongoers who spoke with Our News Outlet said they would still like to see Rubio run, while others floated the idea of a Vance-Rubio ticket as a strong Republican option for 2028.
The majority of those who wanted a Vance-Rubio ticket were ambiguous about who they would want at the top of the ballot. Only one outright said they wanted Vance to be president and Rubio to be vice president. One woman who was ambiguous about who should be the nominee of the two also shared that she would rather have Cruz than Vance.
Vice President JD Vance listens as President Donald Trump speaks on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 9th, 2026 in Dallas, Texas
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Attendees applaud at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas on September 10
Several candidates in the country’s most competitive races this fall are also skipping the main stage, 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.
People attend the Republican Convention on Thursday, September 10, 2026, in Dallas
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 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.’
The 25th anniversary of 9/11, taking place on Friday, was also commemorated during Thursday’s programming at the convention.
