JD Vance positions himself as Trump’s successor at Republican midterm convention
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Vice-presidential candidate JD Vance told a Dallas crowd he should be the party’s future leader, echoing President Donald Trump’s themes and criticizing Democrats on a range of issues.
JD Vance used his closing address at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas to present himself as the heir to President Donald Trump. He told the audience that the party must focus on the November elections before considering longer-term goals, and he praised Trump as “the toughest SOB in American politics.”
Vance listed a series of Republican grievances, including concerns about immigration, crime and cultural issues, and he accused Democrats of wanting to “destroy the nuclear American family.” He also repeated Trump’s unverified claim that Democrats in New York “cheered” the October 7 attack on Israel, and warned that a “new generation” of Democrats seeks to defund the police and abolish the border.
When a protester briefly interrupted his remarks, Vance responded by telling the individual to “go back” to Mexico and offered to buy a plane ticket. The comment drew loud applause from the crowd.
The vice-presidential candidate also paid tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist killed in Utah a year earlier, describing him as “a good man” and urging supporters not to abandon the party over policy disagreements.
A recent poll of likely Republican primary voters showed Vance leading with 43 percent support for the 2028 nomination, ahead of Marco Rubio (21 percent) and Donald Trump Jr. (7 percent). Other speakers at the convention, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Senator Ted Cruz, also delivered attacks on Democratic policies.
Vance concluded his speech by declaring Trump the “greatest president” before yielding the stage to the former president for the final remarks of the convention.