Vance takes stage at midterm convention as Republicans avoid mentioning Trump’s $5,000 pledge to US citizens – live

Key events

Vance pleads with voters to 'not throw the baby out with the bathwater' if they disagree with certain Republican policies

JD Vance just used Charlie Kirk as his vehicle to implore voters who may disagree with certain Trump administration policies to not abandon the party in key congressional races this November.

“Charlie hated war. Whether it was Europe or Africa, the Middle East, he didn’t care. He just hated war. That was his view. Now, of course, there are people who love what we’ve done and people who don’t,” Vance said, referring to the ongoing conflict in Iran that has caused prices across the country to spike. “What I’m asking you to do is do what Charlie did: do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don’t don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there.”

Vance is now slamming several Democratic nominees in states where Republicans are facing key challenges. This includes James Talarico in Texas and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan – both of whom are frequent targets of the GOP ahead of November.

“These are the candidates that congressional Democrats have put forth for you to vote for in November,” the vice-president said. “They asked my friends for a one-way ticket to Washington to legislate and regulate and wield power over your lives. Instead, in my opinion, they need a one-way ticket to a mental hospital.”

In many ways this speech is an audition for JD Vance’s possible 2028 presidential run. He’s spent much of his time on stage setting out the threats of the so-called “far left”, the administration’s greatest hits and slamming Joe Biden’s tenure in office.

Vance just acknowledged that a protester interrupted his remarks while waving a Mexican flag.

“Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” Vance said, in a moment that was red meat for the base, and saw chants of “USA” erupt throughout the arena.

Vance, using the birth of his fourth child as a launchpad, addressed “radicals who wish to abolish my family and the thousands and millions of other families all across our country” to “stay the hell away from our kids”.

A quick aside from Vance, who says that his wife – Usha – who gave birth to a son over a month ago, is not in Dallas.

The vice-president recalled that his wife said “hell no” when Republican Committee (RNC) organizers asked if she would be willing to introduce her husband, just two weeks after giving birth.

“But she sends her love, and I know she’s watching at home,” Vance said.

Vance praises Charlie Kirk as a 'great man'

JD Vance has dedicated a portion of his speech, as we noted earlier, to remember Charlie Kirk – the Turning Point USA founder who was murdered at a campus event in Utah exactly a year ago. Vance and Kirk were close friends.

“Charlie left behind two children, two little kids … I hope that one day they will watch and they will know, and they will understand what I’m trying to say to them tonight. Though they may not appreciate it today, history will record that your father was a great man,” Vance said.

In his opening remarks, Vance said that Republicans in the arena today are not going to let the US “go backwards”.

The vice-president noted that voters were “tired” two years ago.

“We were tired of not being able to afford anything,” Vance added; even though inflation is actually higher than it was when Joe Biden left office in 2025.

JD Vance takes stage at GOP midterm convention

Vice-president JD Vance has just walked out on stage at Republican midterm convention in Dallas.

“I gotta say, it’s pretty cool to hear a crowd that is this fired up chant your name. So go ahead and do it again,” Vance said.

As he wrapped up his speech, Donald Trump Jr repeated a common refrain we’ve heard across both nights of the GOP midterm convention. “The choice is clear,” he said. “Don’t let these radicals gaslight you into thinking common sense is extreme, and extreme is somehow common sense. Don’t let them convince you that caring about this country makes you a villain.”

The president’s son added: “Not a single one of us can afford to sleep through the midterms.”

On stage, there has been little to no mention of Donald Trump’s pledge to pay all adult US citizens $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms.

Instead, most of the speakers have focused on Charlie Kirk’s murder a year ago today, bashing Democrats and progressive candidates on the ballot in November and trying to focus on how the administration is tackling the issue of affordability.

Donald Trump Jr has spent much of his speech re-hashing many of the hard-right talking points of the night.

“As we speak, Democrat candidates across the country are openly embracing the radical ideology of democratic socialism,” the president’s son said. “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 feels good to be back behind a podium': Karoline Leavitt addresses Republicans in Dallas

Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary, is now speaking to Republicans at the second night of the midterm convention.

“It feels good to be back behind a podium,” Leavitt said. “It feels much better speaking to a stadium full of patriots than a briefing room full of journalists.”

A reminder that the former press secretary left the West Wing to spend more time with her family (she recently gave birth to her second child) and take a role at the Trump-aligned Super Pac, Maga Inc.

Dallas mayor Eric Johnson is now addressing attendees at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas.

A reminder that Johnson was, until recently, a Democrat. He became a registered Republican in 2023.

“Today’s progressives don’t believe in giving hardworking Americans a square deal, a fair deal, or a new deal,” Johnson told the crowd. “Every time these extreme democrat socialists grab power, all we get is a raw deal.”

As part of his breakneck midterm race tour, Donald Trump will travel to North Carolina next to help campaign on behalf of Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee in the state’s race for US Senate.

The president will deliver remarks in Gastonia, Whatley’s hometown, on Wednesday.

Kennedy hurled one of many attacks against transgender people of the night during his speech.

Robert F Kennedy Jr also spoke about his uncle, Ted Kennedy, who served as a senator for Massachusetts and fought for several amendments to Title IX – which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program that receives federal funding.

“He [Ted Kennedy] wanted to make sure that women, real women, were able to have a safe and guaranteed spot in college sports,” the health secretary said.

Robert F Kennedy Jr takes stage and notes 'irony of my presence' at Republican convention

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, is now addressing the crowd in Dallas. He’s outlining his shift from a staunch Democrat to an independent, and eventually working for a Republican administration.

“The irony of my presence here is inescapable,” Kennedy said, acknowledging that he hails from a political dynasty that includes his father (and namesake), who served as the US attorney general and a Democratic senator.

“The Democrats of that era stood with labor and working people and the American middle class. Nearly every cop and firefighter was a Democrat,” Kennedy added. “I mourn the fact that neither my father nor my uncle would recognize the Democratic Party of today.”

As we noted earlier, dozens of protesters have gathered outside the arena where the GOP midterm convention is taking place. Dallas police said that two people were taken into custody after an alleged assault involving a counter-protester and for blocking a roadway.