Trump doubles down on pledge of $5,000 payments if his party retains control of Congress on second night of convention – live
JD Vance just used Charlie Kirk as his vehicle to implore voters who may disagree with certain Trump administration policies not to 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.”
Key events
Vance pleads with voters to 'not throw the baby out with the bathwater' if they disagree with certain Republican policies
Vance praises Charlie Kirk as a 'great man'
JD Vance takes stage at GOP midterm convention
'It feels good to be back behind a podium': Karoline Leavitt addresses Republicans in Dallas
Robert F Kennedy Jr takes stage and notes 'irony of my presence' at Republican convention
Collins says that Trump's proposed $5,000 dividend would be 'extraordinarily costly'
Vulnerable New York congressman says his convention message is aimed at 'commonsense Democrats'
House speaker Johnson says 'Democrats in the swing seats' are those who have 'let barbarians inside the gate'
Prosecutor leading DoJ investigation into Trump political enemies resigned - report
Trump says Congress would not need to approve $5,000 midterm pledge
Palantir founder and Trump ally pushes back against $5,000 midterm incentive
Trump spends National Medal of Honor ceremony attacking James Talarico
Beto O'Rourke says he won't seek 2028 Democratic presidential nomination
Second night of GOP midterm convention begins with JD Vance set to deliver keynote address
'That's how desperate he is to hold on to power': Newsom calls Trump's $5,000 midterm pledge 'pathetic and sad'
Here's a recap of the day so far
Missouri secretary of state orders restoration of old congressional district maps
Voting and civil rights groups file lawsuit to keep ICE away from polls
Appeals court upholds block on Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting
James Talarico accuses Paxton of dismissing Epstein survivors
Beto O’Rourke calls Trump's promise of $5,000 payments "a bribe"
Supreme Court sides against GOP-redrawn Missouri congressional maps, again
Trump administration allows 170,000 migrants from El Salvador to keep deportation protections, for now
Top Trump advisors warn Iran war could outlast his second term, report says
Democrat John Fetterman makes surprise appearance at Republican convention
Vance appears to walk back Trump claims that US citizens will receive $5,000 if Republicans win midterms
The president just mentioned the $5,000 for all US adults he has promised if Republicans win the midterm elections. He’s one of the few people to actually mention the pledge on stage tonight.
“We can do that because our country has never done better. We’re taking in trillions, trillions of dollars,” Trump said.
The major legal question of whether this “dividend” actually violates federal law still remains.
As he runs through what he sees as his main achievements, Trump repeats his false claim that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has delivered the “largest tax cuts in American history”.
This isn’t true. In fact, these tax cuts aren’t actually in the top five in US history.
Trump praised Vance for his performance on stage, and repeated claims that the venue is “packed” again.
He said he would be “a little bit brief” in his remarks because of his nearly two-hour speech last night.
“I don’t feel like going over the same material again,” the president said.
Donald Trump is, again, walking on stage to a second live performance of God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood.
As Vance wraps up his remarks, insisting that it’s imperative to send Democrats “packing” in November, the vice-president was another speaker who avoided mentioning Trump’s $5,000 “dividend” to every US adult if Republicans hold on to control of Congress.
Interestingly, Vance doubled down on his criticism of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan, by chiding him for appearing to suggest that Vance’s grandfather (who helped raised him) wouldn’t approve of the vice-president’s interracial marriage.
“The Democrats are the party of hatred. They’re the party that despises America and the people who built it,” Vance said. “They say that people with names like James Vance are incapable of loving people with names like Usha, and they couldn’t be more wrong.”
Vance continued to urge voters to stay with the Republican party.
“We have done a lot, my friends, and we can do a lot more if we fight together,” he said. “Let’s send these lunatics packing and govern our country for the future.”
JD Vance just used Charlie Kirk as his vehicle to implore voters who may disagree with certain Trump administration policies not to 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 National 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.
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.
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