GOP concludes night 2 of the Midterm Convention, Trump's sendoff speech

DALLAS, Texas – Facing a brutal political environment as the GOP fights to hold control of Congress, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance used their speeches on the concluding night of the first ever Republican midterm convention to paint clear contrasts with Democrats and energize supporters to vote.

With less than two months until the midterm elections — and early voting kicking off in a couple of weeks — Trump showcased his policy wins since returning to the White House and led the crowd at American Airlines Center in Dallas in an oath to vote as he made his second primetime convention appearance in two nights.

You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell," the president warned.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared in a post on X that President "Donald Trump just replaced the Pledge of Allegiance with a pledge of allegiance to himself."

"This November, the choice is yours on the ballot: America or Trump," Newsom added.

The Democratic governor made the comment in response to comments Trump made at the Republican midterm convention on Thursday.

"So, please raise your right hand: I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States, that loves us so much he can't even breathe, that I will go out with my family, my friends, I'll do it any way, I don't care if I'm registered or not, I'm gonna try and cheat like hell like they do, ... there's never been bigger cheaters, they don't care. I am gonna go out and I'm gonna get my friends, my family, and we are going to vote on November 3rd, or we are going to vote before that," Trump said.

President Donald Trump said he is not concerned about artificial intelligence ending humanity following his speech on Thursday at the Republican National Committee’s first-ever midterm convention in Dallas.

When asked by a reporter if he has concerns about AI leading to human extinction, Trump replied: "No, I don’t have any."

"I have concerns that if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position. We are leading China right now by a pretty good period. I would say a year, which is, you know, considered a lot," Trump said.

"We're leading the world right now in everything. We have the greatest economy in history, and people are gonna start to see it. We have more jobs right now than at any time in the history of our country," he continued.

President Donald Trump on Thursday urged audience members to "pledge to the greatest president" in U.S. history during the second night of the Republican National Committee’s first-ever midterm convention.

"Please raise your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States that loves us so much he can't even breathe. That I will go out with my family, my friends, I'll do it any way — I don't care if I'm registered or not, I'm going to try to cheat like hell like they do. There's never been bigger cheaters, they don't care," Trump said, referring to Democrats.

Audience members could be heard repeating the pledge after Trump as they had their right hands raised.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate Republican whip, revealed what his Democratic colleagues are predicting about the future of their party as Republicans huddle for a last show of unity before the home stretch of the midterm elections.

He believes they’re worried.

"It's surprising how the energy of the Democrat Party has moved to the far, far left," Barrasso said during an interview at the Republican National Committee midterm convention.

Barrasso’s comments, made to Fox News Digital, further cement rumors of growing unrest among Democrats wary of the momentum of the progressive flank.

In the 2026 midterms, several rising Democrats have beaten out even incumbent veteran lawmakers.

A few notable races include New York's socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier and her victory over incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., the veteran chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Along those lines, Melat Kiros, another socialist in Colorado, unseated 30-year incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.

"Those are the people that are driving the party. And the concern that I have, talking to other colleagues in the Senate, who they’ll say that is the future of their party," Barrasso said.

Vice President JD Vance called out the “hateful” words of a Michigan Democratic congressional candidate who previously criticized the nuclear family during his address at the GOP Midterm Convention.

“And I think about what the Democrats have said about our shared birthright as Americans, or frankly, the lack thereof in Michigan,” Vance said. “One Democrat in particular, one candidate has said, and I quote, ‘F--- the nuclear family.’”

“What are you even talking about?” Vance continued. “These hateful words come not from a love of country. They come not from a desire to serve you or our fellow Americans, but they come from a very deep emptiness in the soul.”

Vance did not directly name the Democratic candidate he was criticizing.

His comments appeared to be directed at William Lawrence, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District who is challenging Republican Rep. Tom Barrett.

Lawrence came under scrutiny after old social media posts resurfaced, including a 2021 post in which he wrote, “F--- isolation and the nuclear family domicile.”

In another post the following year, Lawrence called the nuclear-family home an “isolating, individualistic, violent way of organizing society” and wrote, “I don’t want to be part of that.”

Lawrence defended his past comments Thursday, arguing that they reflected his concerns about affordable housing.

“People are unable to live with their extended families, with their grandparents and parents, people they love, because the economy forces people apart for the sake of paying the bills,” Lawrence said during a Thursday news conference.

“Family is everything to me and I hate how people are torn apart in that way,” he said.

President Donald Trump closed the Republican Party's first-ever midterm convention Thursday night with a final appeal for supporters to turn out in November, urging the Dallas crowd to vote as if his own name were on the ballot.

"On Election Day, November 3rd, you got to do me a favor. You got to get out and vote, and you're going to pretend I'm on the ballot," Trump told the crowd at the American Airlines Center. "Because in a way, I am on the ballot."

Trump then led attendees through a pledge to vote before issuing one final warning about the stakes of the midterms.

"You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell," Trump joked. "And I don't want that to happen to you. So please go and vote."

The president ended his remarks by returning to the slogan that has defined his political movement. "We will make America great again. We will make it greater than ever before," Trump said.

"And now that's enough of politics," he concluded. "I've been doing this now for seven days straight. I want a little music, if you don't mind."

Trump then turned the stage over to presidential tenor Christopher Macchio, telling attendees one final time to "go out and vote" before Macchio performed and balloons dropped from the rafters, bringing the two-day Republican midterm convention to a close.

The Dallas gathering was the Republican Party's first midterm convention, bringing together GOP candidates, administration officials and party leaders as Republicans sought to rally voters ahead of November's elections.

President Donald Trump jokingly led attendees at the Republican convention in Dallas on Thursday evening in a pledge that they would participate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

“Please raise your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States, that loves us so much he can't even breathe, that I will go out with my family, my friends,” Trump said.

Dutifully, the crowd followed along.

Although framed in a humorous light, Trump’s pledge underscores the urgency and the high-stakes nature of the midterms that the president has repeatedly highlighted during the convention. While also warning against Democratic candidates and policies he believes are on the table, he has also asked voters to “pretend” that he is on the ballot.

Trump continued with his pledge.

“[I pledge] I'll do it anyway. I don't care if I'm registered or not. I'm going to try and cheat like hell like they do. There's never been bigger cheaters, and I don't care. I am going to go out, and I'm going to get my friends, my family, and we are going to vote on November 3rd, or we are going to vote before that. Right. All right?”

“You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell, you know that,” Trump quipped.

“You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell, you know that,” Trump quipped.

Former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley argued that the 2026 North Carolina Senate race is part of a broader fight over the direction of the Democratic Party.

“We’re at an inflection point right now in American politics,” Whatley told Fox News Digital.

Whatley pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as evidence that Democrats are moving further to the left.

“The Democrat Party right now is not walking away from Main Street,” Whatley said. “They’re running to the left as hard as they can.”

Whatley, the Republican nominee for the Senate seat, also attacked his Democratic opponent, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, accusing him of voting “lockstep with the Democrats” and saying he would oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“My opponent, Roy Cooper, is going to be a full-tilt voting member of that mob,” Whatley said.

Trump carried North Carolina in three consecutive presidential elections, Whatley noted, arguing that the president needs a Senate ally from the state.

“He needs to have an ally in the Senate from the state,” Whatley said.

Fox News Digital's Alex Miller contributed to this post.

Vice President JD Vance accused Democrats of becoming “the party of hatred” and claimed the party now “despises America and the people who built it.”

Vance made the remarks as he urged Republicans to view the midterms as a fight over the future of the country.

“The Democrats are the party of hatred,” Vance said. “They’re the party that despises America and the people who built it.”

Vance also accused Democrats of showing sympathy for the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, without specifying which Democratic candidates or officials he was referring to.

His remarks were part of a broader effort to portray the November midterms as a choice between Republicans and what he described as an increasingly extreme Democratic Party.

Vance urged Republicans to reject a “red team versus blue team” approach and instead view the election as a fight over the country’s future.

Vice President JD Vance fired back at a protester who interrupted his address at the Republican midterm convention Thursday night while waving a Mexican flag, offering to personally buy the demonstrator a plane ticket to Mexico.

Vance was laying out his vision for American families and workers when the interruption broke out during his speech in Dallas.

"What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag," Vance told the crowd.

"Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a-- over there," he added. "I'll buy you the plane ticket."

Vance then departed from his prepared remarks to use the interruption as a broader argument about patriotism and the political divide heading into November.

"I had a whole speech written, but I think I got to change it because we just discovered the symbol of the far left," Vance said, describing the protester as "an idiot waving a Mexican flag at a protest when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America."

Vance later acknowledged that the protester would likely prefer living in the United States despite waving the foreign flag.

"As much as that person might wave around a foreign flag, he'd much rather live in Dallas or in Cincinnati, or in any one of our great cities than Mexico," Vance said.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright credited the Trump administration's military operation in Venezuela with creating the leverage needed to unlock a major expansion of the country's oil industry, telling Fox News Digital that Venezuelan energy production is expected to more than double by the end of 2027.

"Chevron is going to more than double their energy production. In fact, that national energy production in Venezuela will more than double by the end of next year from the intervention on January 3rd this year," Wright told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.

U.S. forces entered Venezuela during Operation Absolute Resolve on Jan. 3, capturing Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said the joint military and law enforcement raid lasted less than 30 minutes.

"A brief military operation, arrest two criminals, and now we have leverage over the government," Wright said. "It's an existing government. Are they perfect? No. But we have a lot of leverage."

Chevron has since announced plans to invest more than $7 billion over five years in Venezuela and more than double its production there to roughly 600,000 barrels per day.

Wright said that increased Venezuelan production could benefit the U.S. by sending more discounted crude to American refineries while generating demand for American equipment, infrastructure and workers.

Vice President JD Vance argued that defending the birthright of all American children “is what this November is all about” during his keynote speech at Thursday night’s Republican convention.

“​​I believe that our founders built this nation on a promise that echoes our Creator, that every American child … is born with a birthright, born with the right to inherit the blessings of the greatest country on earth, not because of who their parents are, and not because of what they look like or where they come from, but because they are Americans and this is our country,” Vance said. 

The vice president defined the American birthright in terms of material prosperity, religious freedom and social fulfilment. 

"And I want our children to grow up in a country that doesn't roll its eyes at people who pray, but remembers that this country itself was an answer to prayer 250 years ago,” he said. “I want them to find somebody who's worth building a life with, and I want them to be able to afford a home where they can raise their children in peace and prosperity and comfort. I want them to know the pride of saving up for something, of buying something big and real that they're proud of without being outbid by Wall Street tycoons. I want them to keep what they've earned when they work hard. And that is the birthright that I'm talking about.”

"And while the president works every day to build upon that great nation, every single day, the far left is working right now to make sure that your children never see that birthright,” Vance added.

Donald Trump Jr. accused Democrats at the Republican convention in Dallas on Thursday night of making light of political violence, including the assassination attempts against his father, President Donald Trump.

“They mocked the attempted assassination of my father in Butler, Pennsylvania. And we all saw the demented reaction from them to the sick coward who slithered onto a roof to assassinate our great friend Charlie,” Trump Jr. said.

“Guys, in their screwed-up world, these monsters are the victims — not the innocent Americans. These radicals want to tear down our American way of life.”

Trump Jr. used the examples to argue that the Democratic Party has moved far from what it once represented and embraced increasingly extreme positions.

He then pointed to Democratic candidates who openly identify as democratic socialists.

“As we speak, Democrat candidates across the country are openly embracing the radical ideology of democratic socialism. But we should call it what it really is: communism. They claim that their socialism is for the people, but that's the exact same story we've heard from every communist in human history. It does not change,” Trump Jr. said.

Vice President JD Vance used his keynote address at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas to attack Democratic candidates in several competitive races, accusing them of embracing positions he described as far outside the mainstream.

Vance singled out Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, criticizing past comments about gender and religion and mocking his views on transgender issues.

Talarico has since said he “missed the mark” with some of those remarks and has sought to clarify his positions, including saying he opposes gender-transition procedures for minors and transgender participation in girls’ sports when it compromises fairness or safety.

Vance also referenced Democratic candidates in Michigan and New York, accusing them of supporting anti-American views. He argued that the November election would determine whether Republicans or Democrats shape the country’s future.

His remarks came as Republicans seek to frame the midterms as a referendum on Democratic progressivism and energize voters around the GOP’s message on immigration, public safety and family policy.

Vice President JD Vance blasted Democrats on Thursday evening for being fixated on opposing President Donald Trump, his agenda and their own constituents.

“It's not about you, it's about foreign fraudsters, and it's about who they hate. And we got to send their asses back in November,” Vance said.

Vance’s remarks come as Republicans at the convention have tried to paint Democrats as a party out of control on its messaging, policies and candidates; that far-left progressives have forced middle-of-the-road ideas out of focus.

He warned that those changes would have consequences for future Americans.

“Democrats are running candidates who will tell your children what they're allowed to say, how they're allowed to live and importantly, who they ought to hate, because that's what the Democrat Party is about in 2026,” Vance said.

“We got to send a message this November. We got to send a message this November that the country does not belong to the radicals. It does not belong to the bureaucrats. It does not belong to the highest bidder. This country was handed down to us by our parents and their parents before them. We received this national birthright, and we are going to fight for it by electing Republicans this November.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused Democrats of embracing the party’s far-left wing during a speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.

“When people tell you who they are, believe them,” Cruz said.

Cruz cited comments and positions he attributed to Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Texas Senate candidate James Talarico.

“When Hasan Piker says America deserved 9/11, believe him,” Cruz said. “When Mamdani says he wants to seize the means of production, he means it. When Abdul El-Sayed says he has an obligation to comply with Sharia law, he means it. And when James Talarico says he wants to dismantle capitalism, he means it.”

Cruz said not every Democrat in Congress agrees with those views, but argued that Democratic leaders are unwilling to confront the party’s most progressive activists.

“They are all afraid of these radicals because that’s where the money and the energy and the young people are in the Democrat Party,” Cruz said.

“Why does El-Sayed refuse to disavow Hasan Piker?” Cruz asked. “Why does Chuck Schumer stand alongside El-Sayed? Their threats are not simply empty words.”

Donald Trump Jr. used his speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas to honor late conservative activist Charlie Kirk and urge Republicans to remain engaged ahead of the November elections.

Trump Jr. said Kirk, who was killed one year ago, inspired young Americans to advocate for “faith, family, freedom and patriotism.”

He described Kirk as a prominent voice for free speech and said Republicans would honor his legacy by continuing to fight for the country.

“We will not back down. We will not fold,” Trump Jr. told the crowd.He portrayed the election as a contest between two competing visions for America, describing the Republican message as “common sense” versus what he called Democratic “extremism.”

Trump Jr. also accused the left of rejecting open debate and seeking “obedience” and “total control” over Americans’ lives.

Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, attended the convention’s tribute to her late husband, which included a memorial display and remarks honoring his influence on young conservatives one year after his death.

Vice President JD Vance delivered an emotional keynote address at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, reflecting on fatherhood, the loss of his friend Charlie Kirk and the future of the conservative movement.

Vance spoke about welcoming his fourth child and the importance of building a country where American families can thrive. He also honored Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed one year ago, and credited Kirk’s widow, Erika, with influencing his decision to have another child.

Vance described Kirk as a close friend who supported him during his early political career and helped strengthen his Christian faith. He said Kirk’s death left a void but argued that his message and movement would continue.

The vice president also criticized Democrats, portraying the midterm election as a choice between Republican policies and what he called the left’s embrace of socialism, open borders and cultural extremism.

Vance spoke before President Donald Trump delivered the convention’s closing remarks.

This is an excerpt from a story by Ashley DiMella reporting from Dallas, Texas.