Republicans have gathered in Dallas for the closing day of the party’s midterm convention, where President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance delivered speeches and the convention took a turn toward remembrance.
The two-day event aims to highlight Trump’s influence and boost enthusiasm among GOP voters ahead of November’s midterm election. Speakers have derided Democratic candidates as extremists and offered defenses of Trump’s war in Iran. Trump and Vance spoke Thursday night.
Trump’s Promise and Its Cost
Trump pledged Wednesday during the convention to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further fan inflation concerns and exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit.
The promise drew attention because it is both generous and unlikely. Sending $5,000 to every adult in the United States would cost well over a trillion dollars, and it would require a new law passed by Congress.
Missouri Map Fight and Voting Order
Missouri’s Republican secretary of state has ordered local election authorities to use its 2022 congressional map instead of a congressional map backed by Trump after the Supreme Court struck it down earlier today. The decision means Missouri will run the general election with a different congressional map than was used in the primary.
An appeals court on Thursday upheld a block on Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting. The order, which Trump had signed, sought to restrict how Americans could vote by mail. The appeals court’s decision keeps the block in place.
Trump Jr. Honors Kirk
The president’s son spoke at the convention, honoring the late Charlie Kirk. Trump Jr. said that Kirk had inspired a movement to stand up to leftists.
“We will not back down,” Trump Jr. said. “We will not fold. We will honor Charlie by carrying his torch to save this nation that we all love so dearly.”
Trump Jr. said that Democrats wanted to “shove down our throats” a “hellscape.” The speech framed the convention as a continuation of the conservative movement Kirk had built.
“We will honor Charlie by carrying his torch to save this nation that we all love so dearly.”
No Going Back PAC Spending
No Going Back PAC Inc., which a person with knowledge of the situation said is connected to Trump’s MAGA Inc., has been buying up airtime during the convention. So far it has reserved more than $68 million in advertising.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the funding arrangement. The spending shows how seriously the Trump camp takes the midterms, with a PAC pouring tens of millions into ads even as the convention runs.
Kennedy’s Speech
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services Secretary, lamented what he cast as the transformation of the Democratic Party of his father and uncle at the midterm GOP convention. The son of a former U.S. attorney general and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, the secretary said the “irony of my presence here is inescapable.”
He enumerated his view that the party had abandoned working Americans for elites and said he found a new home in the Republican Party, eliciting loud cheers and applause. “The Democratic Party, in short, lost its way,” he said.
Kennedy’s speech was notable because it came from someone with direct ties to the Kennedy political legacy. His presence at a GOP convention allowed Republicans to claim that the Kennedy family’s tradition of liberalism had been abandoned.
Sept. 11 Tribute
A video marking the Sept. 11 attacks included images from the devastation and clips of then-President George W. Bush’s visit to ground zero and his triumphant first pitch in the 2001 World Series. It also included images of then-New York real estate figure Donald Trump striding into Manhattan and talking to media about employees for his business who were working at the time of the attack.
The video later turned to images of some Democratic figures who have been critical of U.S. foreign policy and offered more callous statements of the calamity. The segment wrapped with images of Trump as president, suggesting he had shielded the U.S. from further similar attacks, as presidents since Bush have also done.
In the end, quiet, respectful applause lightly fluttered across the arena.
Christopher Macchio’s soaring tenor spiraled through the American Airlines Center, the strains of “Ave Maria” in an almost silent convention center. It was the most solemn and poignant moment of the convention, a tribute to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
As Macchio’s voice filled the arena, the floor was darkened, though two beams of light stretched upward, reminiscent of the Twin Towers. Convention goers illuminated their mobile phone flashlights, giving the fitting illusion of candlelight.
The basketball arena’s screens fluttered with images of passenger aircraft striking the World Trade Center towers in New York, footage of frantic Manhattanites and debris-covered police, fire and rescue workers.
“2,977 innocent people lost their lives,” a narrator intoned as familiar videos transitioned to home videos of families. “Always remember who they are,” the narrator said solemnly. “Say their names. Honor their sacrifice. Defend Freedom. Never forget September 11.”
Lawler and Ulbricht
Rep. Mike Lawler, facing reelection in a battleground district this year, appealed to “common sense Democrats and independents” from the GOP midterm convention stage. It was a different tone compared with the near constant attacks on Democrats.
“While I’m honored to be in this arena with so many fellow Republicans tonight, my message is really aimed at common sense Democrats and independents across the country tuning in and still undecided about their vote in November,” he said.
In an emotional presentation, Lawler appeared on stage with the family of Sheridan Gorman, who was fatally shot this year in Chicago. Officials have charged a man they say was illegally in the country with her slaying.
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the underground website used for selling drugs, thanked Trump for pardoning him last year after being sentenced to life in prison in 2015.
“You gave me my life back, sir,” Ulbricht said while choking back tears. Some in the crowd at the Republican midterm convention shouted that his plight was similar to that of those imprisoned for participating in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. He said Trump was also a “target of weaponized government” after the indictments and investigations after his first term.
Ulbricht said there are hundreds of “decent Americans” who Trump freed from prison.
“I’ll be a block,” Trump said on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.” “I’ll end up being a blocker.”
The president suggested he still might be able to strike deals with Congress. He also defended his promise to gi
The convention’s final moments focused on remembrance and unity, with a tribute to the victims of Sept. 11 and a reminder of the movement Kirk had built.
Source: abc13.com
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