Brayden Myer
On September 9 & 10, Republicans gathered at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas for the first ever midterm Republican National Convention (RNC). This comes after Trump announced the convention on June 30, 2026, to rally Republicans ahead of the midterms.
Prior to the convention beginning at 3 p.m. on September 9, other organizations whose members attended held their own events in Dallas.
Moms for Liberty Holds Pre-RNC Bruncheon
On the morning of the first day of the RNC, Moms for Liberty, a nationwide parental rights organization, drew a room packed full of supporters, with almost no seats left unfilled, for a bruncheon featuring multiple speakers. Notable attendees included the Presidents of the Wisconsin Federation of Republican Women and Republican Women of 6th District, the founder of American Jewish Conservatives, Scarlett Johnson, and Congressman Glenn Grothman.
The bruncheon began with a well-received national anthem performance by Hilary Jackson, Chapter Chair of Moms for Liberty – Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
One of the speakers was Denise Bell, Chapter Chair of Moms for Liberty – Harris County, Texas. Bell shared a story about a teacher who crossed out a student’s legal name and wrote down a preferred name. When this was discovered, her chapter helped the parents fight this and Bell was asked to speak up about this. “We are the voice for those who cannot or who are not willing to speak,” Bell exclaimed. “Moms showed up long before the political help showed up… We have to show up.” Bell also shared the story about two members who, after joining their organization, generously donated $50,000 to her chapter.
Tina Descovich, CEO and Co-Founder of Moms for Liberty, then took the stage to explain the struggles of today’s public education system. Descovich stated America’s math scores are the lowest in 25 years and, “Education is failing in America, and it’s on purpose.” She went on to discuss that the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) today started back in public schools years ago and, “We are in a cultural revolution in America. They are coming for our kids.” Descovich then highlighted the progress of the organization since its founding. Moms for Liberty went from 2 chapters to 300 across 48 states with over 130,000 members, won 575 school board races, succeeded in getting 100 bills signed into laws in 22 states, members have attended thousands of school board meetings, and held educational events. The talk then switched to the years of the Biden Administration. Descovich mentioned the DOJ targeting moms for speaking up at school board meetings. When these parents would be called by the DOJ, the DOJ would say don’t tell people we called you. “The momma bears came out when they went after our kids,” Descovich stated. During this era, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leftist think tank that was indicted for funding the KKK and other extremist groups, added Moms for Liberty to their Hate Map. Moms for Liberty members over the years have had tires slashed, houses egged, and were deplatformed on social media.
The next speaker was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich pointed out the hypocrisy of the left when discussing Enes Kanter Freedom declaring for the WNBA draft. He stated that those in the transgender movement are trying to say, “Well maybe he doesn’t count.” He further went on to state, “When you tell the left men shouldn’t be in women’s sports, their ideological wing won’t let them be with the American people.” Gingrich then stated socialists want to use the government to change the American people. In his final message, Gringrich stated, “No one in 250 years has made money betting against the United States.”
The final speaker was Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. McMahon stated that the left weaponized Title IX against girls and parents were told to step aside while bureaucrats would make the decisions for their children. McMahon then delivered a powerful statement: “This administration recognizes there are only two sexes. There are only boys and girls.” She then highlighted successes of the Trump Administration, stating schools are seeing results, not indoctrination, girls can use sport facilities without male infiltration, the Education Freedom Tax Credit has given 50 million children opportunities, and Trump has moved to get rid of DEI and restore fair practices. That, McMahon said, is making America great again. McMahon then left the audience with another powerful statement: “Parents are not wards of the government. Kids belong to the parents.”
The event concluded with a huge round of applause from the audience.
Hunter Nation Makes Presence at RNC
Members of Hunter Nation, a nonprofit that fights for hunters at the legislative level and encourages them to vote, attended the convention, including its founder and CEO, Keith Mark, and Wisconsin Director Chris Vaughan. Hunter Nation was one of the few organizations with a suite overseeing the arena. Notable figures visited the suite included U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, actor and singer John Schneider, congressional candidate Michael Alfonso, Congressman Brandon Gill, Congressman Derrick Van Orden, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, James O’Keefe, and more.
Wisconsin Director Chris Vaughan highlighted the importance of Hunter Nation’s work in getting hunters out to vote, stating that half of licensed hunters do not vote despite sharing conservative values. Hunter Nation’s get-out-the-vote efforts, which it calls “Hunt the Vote,” helped President Trump win Wisconsin in 2024. Their organization looked at the 2024 election and identified licensed hunters who hadn’t voted or only voted once in the previous 16 years. Vaughan claimed they were responsible for getting 118,000 voters out in a year where Trump won Wisconsin under 30,000 votes. One of the ways they encourage hunters to become civically engaged is by hosting free public events, showing their votes matter and they can make change.
Vaughan also highlighted successes of Hunter Nation in Wisconsin. One came in 2020 when the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had closed hunter education courses due to COVID. His son wasn’t allowed to hunt at the time due to not having completed his hunter safety education. When that happened, Hunter Nation threatened to sue the DNR, arguing Wisconsin has a constitutional right to hunt and fish. After, the DNR did open hunter safety education courses. Another success came in 2021 when there was a federal delisting of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act. Despite that, the DNR was not going to allow a wolf hunt. Hunter Nation sued the DNR and won their right to the wolf hunt.
Vaughan then thanked President Trump for his recent executive order delisting the gray wolf as an endangered species. He also expressed frustration that, even though this is a federal issue, the DNR provided little assistance in fighting for this issue. Hunter Nation is looking forward to working with President Trump through the delisting process and being at the table in Madison and Washington D.C.
People can learn more about and support Hunter Nation at hunternation.org.
Congressional Candidates Weigh In
One congressman in attendance at the RNC, Glenn Grothman (WI-06), who is running for reelection, stated for this convention he would “like to see a lot of talking points. One more time summarizing why it’s so important that we keep the House and the Senate in Washington and reminding me how many good things we’ve done.” He then highlighted the Big Beautiful Bill for “cracking down on some of this cheating and fraud in the welfare system.” He also mentioned middle-class tax cuts, including “no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, [and] deductibility of auto loans.” Not only that, he also wants to remind people of the good job done by President Trump and his cabinet, such as how “President Trump personally renegotiated already negotiated contracts and is saving the taxpayer quite a bit of money.” When it comes to retaining the House and Senate, Grothman believes it will be “right on the button,” but Republicans should be able to retain the Senate. He believes in the possible pickup in Minnesota and cited redistricting as a helpful factor in the House.
Another congressional candidate in attendance was Michael Alfonso, who is running to represent Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, an open seat. The main hurdle he sees Republicans facing this fall is voter turnout. “We have socialists on one side, or what I like to say, communists, because it’s the same thing, and we have common sense on the right,” Alfonso said. “The voters very clearly will decide to pick the Republicans, but it’s about getting people out to vote, and that’s why this Republican convention is so important.” As Alfonso travels his district the biggest issue he hears facing voters is affordability. “This is where I look back at the Biden administration. They left this country in a ditch. The worst inflation crisis we’ve had in over 40 years. No one can afford anything,” stated Alfonso. He also referenced the Working Families Tax Cut, allowing families to earn $10,000 more per year on take-home pay. “President Trump and House Republicans have been actually making great steps towards making America affordable again.” Alfonso also expressed if Republicans do not win the midterms the Democrats will cause a gridlock and block affordability measures. “If we do not deliver on the promise of affordability and making America great again, we will become a communist country,” he said. Alfonso then criticized polls showing President Trump has low approval ratings, stating they are nonsense and a joke. “I’ve been all across the district in the 7th District of Wisconsin. It’s one of the biggest districts in the entire country. And the voters are excited about the Trump agenda. We just have to get them to the polls.”
First Day
The Republican National Convention commenced at 3 p.m. on September 9 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Throughout the day, various speakers took the stage and conventiongoers moved in and out of the arena. Speakers included congressmen and congressional candidates, Senators and candidates for U.S. Senate, leaders of conservative organizations, members of Trump’s cabinet, UFC fighters, and more. By the time President Trump took the stage, he had drawn a full arena, including several individuals he recognized as having attended hundreds of his rallies.
Earlier in the day, Trump posted a series of short videos online, presenting a grateful vision for America. One of those videos played on night two. In one video, Trump narrated: “Together we will beat communism, socialism, and marxism once and for all. America will never be a communist country.”
President Trump had the effect of energizing the audience even further just by looking and giving them the thumbs up. Audience members could be heard cheering louder when he acknowledged them. While the crowd cheered for other speakers, none matched the same energy as when Trump was on stage. Throughout his speech, audience members shouted positive comments, including one woman who said, “I love you Mr. President.” Later, Trump would return the sentiment, saying, “I am here because I love you guys.”
Trump made it clear he is stern on passing the SAVE Act. The audience also expressed strong support of the SAVE Act. At one point in Trump’s speech, he mentioned Senator John Thune,and, without hesitation, the audience began to boo. He called out the Democrats’ opposition to the SAVE Act, saying, “The only reason the Democrats are fighting us… is they want to cheat.”
In classic Trump manner, he got the audience laughing by pointing out the “fake news” in the back, specifically pointing toward the suites of CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS, and saying: “You know what they are going to do? The fake news will go around and see that man up there, he’s leaving for the bathroom, he’ll be back in two minutes, they’ll take a picture of his seat while he’s gone and say ‘Trump did not fill up the arena. Look at this seat.’ So please, everyone, do not go to the bathroom.” He also recalled a story from his second day as President where a reporter asked him about egg prices being up four times since assuming office.
In his speech, Trump covered a variety of topics. He emphasized the need for Republicans to get out and vote in November to ensure America prospers over the next 250 years. “I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,” Trump said. “Just one more time because if we lose, you’re going to lose your border, you’re going to lose your tax cuts, you’re going to lose your safety and security, you’re going lose your wealth, our country is going through hell, we will be going through hell just like you did two years ago we went through hell. We were a laughingstock all over the world. They don’t laugh anymore.” Trump also emphasized his appreciation for veterans and law enforcement, less drugs being brought into the country, cracking down on illegal immigration and having a secure border, keeping men out of women’s sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms, the stock market reaching all-time highs, banning DEI from the federal government, banning transgender ideology and CRT from public schools, ending transgender mutilation of children, attracting over $20 trillion in foreign investment, record low crime rates, making English the country’s official language, and more. He also called out Democrats for voting against all those measures.
Trump laid out the Democratic Party’s far-left agenda, pointing out they “vow to abolish the police, abolish prisons, abolish the United States Supreme Court, abolish the United StatesSenate, they want to abolish ice, abolish border patrol, and they want to grant full amnesty and voting rights to illegal aliens… if you were a murderer you get to vote. They want to ban oil and gas… They want to defund the United States military… they want to take healthcare for our veterans. They want to steal your money for reparations. They want to basically punish you for crimes you never committed they happened hundreds of years ago.”
Following previous social media posts made suggesting the same ideas, Trump mentioned the Gulf of America and Lake America, which drew cheers from the crowd, and hinted at renaming the Strait of Hormuz the Trump Strait and renaming New Mexico to New America. The crowd loved the ideas.
Trump also promised to campaign and have rallies in every state with swing races for the House and Senate.
He ended the night with the YMCA theme song.
For some attendees, this was their first-time seeing Trump in person. One of those people was Tammy Fogal, Chapter Chair of Moms for Liberty – Taylor County, Texas. Fogal stated, “My biggest takeaways are he truly cares about our nation, and he is very passionate about making sure he leaves it way better than he found it. I believe he’s sincere in that approach and I was very encouraged by his love for our country.” Fogal believes voters will not fall for lies being pushed by Democratic candidates but only time will tell if this convention will have a big enough impact on the midterms. “The biggest hurdle I’ve seen is once Trump got elected, everybody kind of became apathetic because he’s in charge now we don’t have to do any work,” Fogal stated, “and so there’s this false understanding of what it takes to be an active citizen in our country and I’m afraid apathy and deception of the Democrats’ campaign ads are going to really be what causes people to either not get out and vote or to feel a false choice in who they have to pick from when they really don’t want the policies of the Democrats, but the way it’s packaged. It makes it sound more enticing and appealing, even though it really can’t come to fruition.” She also wished the convention would be more accessible to the average person, not just those who have connections. Delegates had to pay a significant fee to become a delegate, with Wisconsinites having to pay $1200.
9/11 Remembered: 25 Years Later Screening
On the morning of the second day of the RNC, a screening was held for the newly released documentary 9/11 Remembered: 25 Years Later, produced by Deborah Flora, founder of Parents United Colorado, and directed by Jonathan Flora. The room was filled with over 50 attendees. This documentary features powerful testimony from eyewitnesses including firefighters, family members of those who were killed, Rudy Guliani, Donald Trump, and others.
After the screening, the filmmakers received a large round of applause. When they asked if anyone in the room was not alive during 9/11, two attendees from National High School Conservatives of America stood up. One of them, Evan Archer, in reference of all those killed stated, “We can’t forget about them.” The other, Matthew Franklin, stated, “There’s what you learn in school, but it is like a textbook, and you move on. Then you go to an event like this and it’s a fantastic film.”
“Sharing the pain and agony with the youth is how we tell our story,” stated one attendee who recalled watching the attacks unfold from her home.
According to Deborah Flora, the next phase for their documentary is to have it be incorporated as part of school curricula. Those interested in helping can contact them on their website.
One attendee was Moms for Liberty Co-Founder & CEO Tina Descovich, who described the documentary as “extremely powerful. It brought back so many emotions and memories from 25 years ago.” She also expressed this film should “absolutely” be shown in schools. “Children today, obviously they weren’t alive 25 years ago,” said Descovich. “Some of their parents seem to have forgotten what went through as a country on 9/11, and so I think it would be an important part of education.” When discussing what will happen if children don’t learn about their history, Descovich stated, “History tends to repeat itself if we don’t learn about it and from it.”
People can learn more about 9/11 Remembered: 25 Years Later at 911remembered.com.
Second Day
Speakers on the second day included RNC Chairman Joe Gruters, federal representatives and candidates, the lt. governor and governor of Texas, the mayor of Dallas, former hostages under the Biden administration freed under the Trump administration, current and former members of Trump’s cabinet, and others, concluding with Vice President Vance and President Trump.
Throughout both days, crowds formed in the halls around well-known attendees, including Ben Shapiro, Benny Johnson, Scott Presler, Ted Cruz, and others.
With the second day of the convention taking place one year after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, speakers offered their words of remembrance toward him. Donald Trump Jr. stated, “We will not back down. We will not fold. We will honor Charlie by carrying the torch of this nation we love so dearly.” When JD Vance mentioned Charlie Kirk, the crowd began chanting, “Charlie.”
When Robert Kennedy addressed the RNC, that marked the first time a member of the Kennedy family had ever done so. He called out the Democratic Party for calling themselves the party of “my body, my choice” while supporting mask and vaccine mandates. He stated that neither his dad nor uncle would recognize today’s Democratic Party. “The party of no kings anointed a queen,” he said referencing how the Democratic Party put forth Kamala Harris without a nomination process. After Trump called him up, he realized everything said from the mainstream media is a lie and stated, “President Trump has kept every single promise he’s made…”
Karoline Leavitt also offered words of support for Trump, stating, “There is no greater defender of freedoms and our country than my boss the President of the United States.”
As Vance took the stage, he was greeted by chants of “JD.” Later, the crowd began chanting “48.” Vance reemphasized several of Trump’s talking points from the first night.
15 minutes into Vance’s speech, a protester entered the arena waving the Mexican flag. When Vance pointed out what had happened the crowd began booing. “Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much get your ass over there and I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” Vance stated which caused the arena to boom with cheers, some of the loudest of the whole convention, and was proceeded with “USA” chants. “We just discovered the symbol of the far left: an idiot waving the Mexican flag at a protest when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America,” Vance said, followed by more USA chants. He proceeded by saying, “We all know of course that as much as that person might wave around a foreign flag, we would much rather live in Dallas, or in Cincinnati, or in any one of our great cities than Mexico.”
Vance also addressed racist remarks made by Democrat Michigan Senate candidate Abdul Al-Sayed about Vance’s father. Al-Sayed “asked mockingly whether I would be willing to bring Usha back in time to meet papaw,” said Vance. “Abdul looks at him, sees the color of his skin, sees his background, and decides that he can never have loved my wife. Now the shocking thing is Abdul was raised by his own white step-grandparents. He knows exactly that kind of bond and what it looks like in a family, and he chose anyway to say that a man like my grandfather couldn’t have loved from the bottom of his heart someone who looks like Usha.” Vance then said his father “was a better man than Abdul Al-Sayed because I guarantee you, he’d love my family every bit as much.”
After Vance finished, Trump took the stage as the convention’s final speaker. When Trump asked, “Should I be brief or should I not be brief,” the crowd yelled, “No.” While Trump reiterated several main talking points from the previous day, he also introduced several new ones. He mentioned his administration has made the largest regulation cuts in American history, turned America into the energy and military superpower of the world, and America has seen the largest drop in prescription drug prices in history, anywhere between 50-90%. Trump also pointed out Democrats want to give voting rights and welfare to 25 million illegal aliens which will double to triple taxes. Trump also is focused on fighting to end cash bail.
Near the end of his speech, Trump had the crowd raise their rights hands and pledge they will go and vote November 3. “You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell,” Trump joked afterward, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Trump ended the convention with opera singer Christopher Macchio singing America the Beautiful. During his performance, hundreds of red, white, blue, and gold balloons dropped from the ceiling.
Afterward, Denise Ballou of Abilene, Texas, described Trump’s speech as “Energizing. He always makes us all laugh. You know, I love him. There’s just pure joy. And he promotes that a lot.” She also appreciated Trump’s honesty. Ballou stated,
“I love the fact that he’s not a politician and he doesn’t mind speaking truth, and because that’s what the people want to hear. They want that authenticity, you know, and that’s what we get with him. So that’s what I love. It’s a great country. It’s a great time to be alive.”
