‘Sold-out crowd’ in Dallas energized for midterms as Vance, Trump speak at Republican convention

A roaring crowd greeted President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on the second and final day of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. 

“President Trump is the ultimate turnout driver for the MAGA base, and today’s historic, sold-out crowd proved it,” White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster told Heartlander News. “While Radical Left Democrats fail the American people with tax hikes, soft-on-crime policies, and defunding of federal law enforcement, hardworking Americans have a champion in President Trump and his commonsense agenda of lower taxes, safer streets, and secure borders.”

With less than two months before the November midterm elections, the first-of-its-kind Republican gathering served as a rallying point for the party, with speakers framing the elections as a test of support for Trump’s agenda in hopes of driving voters to the polls.

“Get out and vote please,” Trump said in his remarks Thursday, touting reduced prescription drug prices, employment numbers, and his efforts to eliminate DEI and transgender surgeries for minors. 

If Democrats win, Trump added, “they’re promising to confiscate your wealth, tax your social security, abolish no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, they’re going to defund the police, giving voting rights and welfare to 25 million illegal aliens, destroy Texas oil and gas.”

Trump reiterated his earlier ask of voters in a speech Wednesday night: “pretend I’m on the ticket,” he said, casting the midterms as nothing less than a referendum on himself.

The midterm convention was expected to draw 20,000 visitors to Dallas, NBC DFW reported.

“We were packed last night, we had thousands of people outside,” Trump said of the crowd size, after multiple outlets reported fewer crowds than expected and empty seats. In a Truth Social post earlier Thursday, Trump said the convention was a “major, sold out hit, far bigger, better, and more important than anyone thought possible.” 

Heartlander News reached out to the American Airlines Center, where the event is being hosted, and the Republican National Committee for comment about the number of people in attendance.

In fiery remarks before Trump spoke on Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance energized a cheering crowd to head to the polls.

“This fall The 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’ve 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 receive this national birthright, and we are going to fight for it by electing Republicans this November,” he added.

Vance said the midterm elections will be about “much more” than red versus blue. 

“It’s about sending a message to the Democratic party, that if you send your crazies, we’re going to send you packing,” he said. “America belongs to those who love it, not those who hate it.”