Republicans held their first-ever midterm convention because President Donald Trump wanted to. The two-day rally/telethon put his personality and policies at the center of the party’s campaign pitch, coalescing around a line of attack on Democrats as extreme.
“The Democrats are getting nervous — they said that if we did a midterm convention, nobody would show up,” Trump said at the end of the second night, to an arena whose highest decks were bare. “This place is packed. It was packed last night.”
Later he noticed the empty nosebleeds and added, “That’s not good. I shouldn’t have looked up there.”
The midterms will be a referendum on Trump
The president is telling supporters to vote like he is on the ballot. The GOP has underperformed in midterms since his rise, and Republican candidates and strategists recognize the need for Trump to turn out his base on their behalf.
At the same time, many Republican candidates are wary of hewing too closely to Trump when he is less popular than ever, and districts he won handily two years ago now look competitive.
Trump has told advisers that Democrats will make the race about him anyway so he should make the case for his record. Vice President JD Vance offered similar advice Thursday in a private breakfast, urging battleground Republicans to “nationalize” the campaign rather than focusing on local issues.
Democrats are more than happy to oblige.
“If Donald Trump wants to hold a convention saying this election is about him, I fully support his decision,” Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Kentucky) told reporters Thursday in Louisville.
“He’s telling me to pretend that he is on the ballot — I want people to pretend that he is on the ballot. If you are for tariffs, vote for Donald Trump the Republican candidate. If you are for gas being higher, vote for Donald Trump the Republican candidate. Otherwise, vote for the Democrat.”
As the convention began, Trump’s political operation started unloading its war chest that Republicans anxiously awaited for months, buying airtime in key Senate and House races. Trump also committed to campaigning in all the battleground states, including returning to Texas.
First, though, he is heading to Ireland this weekend to visit one of his golf courses.
The event doubled as a torch-passing for Vance
The convention’s program, with Trump headlining the first night and Vance the second, implied a symbolic handoff from the current president to his chosen successor.
Trump has not publicly endorsed Vance nor definitely stated his preference privately, but he has urged donors to get behind Vance and backed off playing up a contest with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Vance used his address to speak in personal terms about the stakes of the midterm elections, extensively discussing the assassination of his friend Charlie Kirk a year ago and the birth of his fourth child in July, returning to the theme of an American “birthright.” He commanded the crowd like no other speaker except Trump. He had the crowd on its feet and chanting USA when he told a protester with a Mexican flag, “If you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there.”
As the crowd started chanting “48,” Vance responded, “Can we please — we got to take care of business this November, then we’ll worry about what comes next.”
Rubio was traveling on official business in South America during the convention. Sen. Ted Cruz, who openly aspires to the 2028 nomination for himself, spoke earlier Thursday, drawing extensive cheers from the home-state audience. (Cruz was famously booed off the stage at the 2016 Republican National Convention after he refused to endorse Trump.)
“Our great vice president, what a job he did tonight,” Trump said after Vance finished.
Hasan Piker is on the ballot
The 35-year-old Twitch streamer holds no elected office and isn’t seeking one, but he was one of the most popular punching bags in Dallas as Republicans tried to make him a symbol of a Democratic Party fallen to extreme views.
Multiple speakers quoted Piker’s statement that “America deserved 9/11,” which also appeared in a super PAC ad attacking Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for campaigning with Piker and refusing to disavow him. The big screens in Dallas frequently showed images of Piker, including on more than one occasion, a lightly blurred underwear selfie.
Calling Democrats “extreme” was a constant refrain, sometimes contrasted with “mainstream” to rhyme.
Republicans repeatedly sought to characterize themselves as the party of common sense — and Democrats as extremists. The phrase “common sense” was uttered more than 58 times over the course of the two-day event.
“This election will determine who controls Congress: the common-sense mainstream,” actor Dennis Quaid said in a prerecorded video over a shot of a rippling American flag, “or the socialist liberal extreme.” Shots flashed of Democratic figures including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, El-Sayed, former vice president Kamala Harris, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York and the Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, James Talarico.
“We have to admit that every party has their crazies. The difference is that the Democrat Party is nominating theirs for Congress,” Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) said to laughter.
Panicans stayed home. Attendees had a blast.
Trump acknowledged that the president’s party usually loses the midterms, and there is no shortage of professional Republicans with dim views of their chances in November. Polls show higher enthusiasm on the Democratic side, usually a sign that they are more likely to vote.
But none of that diminished the party-like atmosphere inside the American Airlines Center. Some attendees drove or flew hundreds of miles to attend. They were upbeat, celebratory and hopeful, many decked out in MAGA and patriotic attire and determined to persuade undecided voters and rally the GOP base in November.
They waved signs and shouted and cheered in agreement as speakers insisted they could still beat Democrats this fall, against the odds for the party in power in a midterm election. Some attendees sprinted from their seats and through the concourse earlier in the evening Wednesday after hearing they might be able to get a glimpse of Trump’s motorcade arriving. They gave him the kind of hero’s welcome he is accustomed to at large rallies. The crowd roared with laughter as Trump cracked jokes about Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s appearance, and Trump seemed to be enjoying himself.
“There is great energy here,” said Rachal Hisler, who drove from the Houston area. “We’ve got so many different generations. So many different walks of life. I have met so many people from around the country. … It’s just been really great to be around so many other great Americans who love this country and want to see it succeed no matter what.”
Marisol Moya and Bradley Dodds, two voters from the Dallas suburbs who drove in to their very first GOP convention, said they did so because they were thrilled to see the president live for the first time. Dodds said Republican candidates in the state would benefit from Trump’s visit because it would wake up voters who may be feeling reticent about casting a ballot in November.
The two noted that Trump had delivered on a top issue that they felt Democrats hadn’t taken enough action on: closing the border. On that issue alone, Trump should be able to “energize the base to vote and get out in the midterms,” Dodds said.
Mariana Alfaro contributed reporting.
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