Republicans held a two-day convention in Dallas to energize Republican voters ahead of this year\u2019s midterm elections \u2013 called \u201cTrump-a-palooza\u201d by some \u2013 that featured appearances from President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and a host of GOP candidates seeking reelection in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump headlined both nights of the convention, where he framed the midterms as \u201cone of the most important elections in our country\u2019s history\u201d and assailed the Democratic Party. \u201cYour vote will decide whether our country stumbles at the starting gate of the next 250 years, or surges forward and never, ever looks back,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump said if Republicans keep control of Congress, they will make his signature tax cuts permanent and advance a new health care plan. He also promised a $5,000 dividend for all U.S. adults if the GOP wins the midterms, but didn\u2019t say how he would finance the payments. \u201cIf the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate \u2026 I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,\u201d Trump said, noting that dividend recipients would be required to spend the money in the U.S.<\/p>\n
While Trump took center stage at the midterm convention, Pennsylvania\u2019s significance loomed over the historic midterm gathering. U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick underscored the stakes of this year\u2019s midterm elections and touted recent investments in the commonwealth totaling more than $100 billion. U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan, both facing competitive challenges in their respective districts, also spoke at the convention, while Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman made a surprise appearance by video to introduce McCormick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Fetterman makes an appearance at the GOP convention<\/p>\n
Just days after a scathing Wall Street Journal report<\/a> portrayed him as having little interest in his day-to-day duties as a U.S. senator \u2013 a piece that enraged members of his own party<\/a> \u2013 U.S. Sen. John Fetterman appeared at the Dallas GOP convention via video to introduce his Republican colleague and friend, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fetterman, a Democrat, has increasingly distanced himself from his own party since being elected in 2028. He\u2019s dined with President Donald Trump, become one of the Senate\u2019s most vocal defenders of Israel, and has not shied away from critiquing the leftward drift of the Democratic Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a common-sense Democrat,\u201d Fetterman said in the video played at the convention. \u201cI\u2019m always going to stand with America. I\u2019m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life. Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done, and he\u2019s going to fight for Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormick touts Pennsylvania\u2019s economy while underscoring stakes of the midterms<\/p>\n In a 10-minute speech on the first day of the convention, McCormick highlighted the pivotal role Pennsylvania has played throughout the nation\u2019s history, while making the case that the commonwealth will be critical to the country\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cToday we are building America\u2019s future again,\u201d McCormick said. \u201cWestinghouse is launching a new era of nuclear power. Drug manufacturing is booming in the Lehigh Valley. Hanwha is investing $5 billion in the Philadelphia shipyard, and President Trump and I have announced over $100 billion in energy, AI and defense, bringing tens of thousands of great jobs to Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormick, who was joined onstage by steel and manufacturing workers, praised Trump and members of Pennsylvania\u2019s congressional delegation for securing a deal<\/a> to keep U.S. Steel\u2019s headquarters in Pittsburgh<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Republican senator also raised concerns about recent wins by self-professed Democratic Socialist candidates across the United States, noting that his grandfather was a Democrat who campaigned for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and \u201cwouldn\u2019t recognize his party today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats told us to excuse Nazi tattoos. Michigan\u2019s Democratic Senate nominee campaigns with a man who said America, and I quote, \u2018deserved 9\/11.\u2019 This radical movement excuses lawlessness. It vilifies the police. It disparages our military. It attacks our business. It spews antisemitism, and it celebrates those who despise America,\u201d McCormick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy friends, the choice is clear,\u201d he added. \u201cWill we dream heroic dreams and build a better future, or will we surrender to socialism, defeatism, anti-Americanism? I refuse to surrender. President Trump refuses to surrender. This November, there can be no surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n Bresnahan and Mackenzie praise Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill<\/p>\n Facing competitive races this November, U.S. Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie were both speakers at the GOP\u2019s midterm convention.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking on the convention\u2019s first day, Bresnahan, who is running against Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in November, focused on the impact that Trump\u2019s signature tax bill<\/a>, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a>, will have on Pennsylvania workers\u2019 bottom lines. He said the law\u2019s deduction for overtime pay will have positive ripple effects throughout Pennsylvania communities. \u201cThat extra money reaches places like the diner down the street, the local grocery store and the family buying their first home. That\u2019s how you build communities where people can stay, raise a family and build a life,\u201d he said. Bresnahan also touted his support for career and technical education and Northeastern Pennsylvania\u2019s manufacturing sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mackenzie, who is facing a challenge from Bob Brooks, a firefighters union president, spoke on the second day of the convention. He highlighted his voting record in Congress and celebrated Trump\u2019s signature tax bill. \u201cWe delivered tax relief for every American by locking in lower rates and expanding the standard deduction. We added no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security,\u201d Mackenzie said. \u201cWe fought for working families, expanding the child tax credit, making tax credits permanent for things like paid family leave and child care, and creating Trump accounts.\u201d Mackenzie also took a shot at Brooks, calling him a \u201cfar-left nutjob\u201d supported by establishment Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brooks, meanwhile, labeled Mackenzie a \u201clapdog\u201d<\/a> ahead of the event, which he referred to as a \u201clapdog convention.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Democrats accuse GOP lawmakers of prioritizing Trump over Pennsylvania voters<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale criticized Pennsylvania Republicans who traveled to Texas for the convention, accusing them of being more loyal to Trump than to Pennsylvania voters’ needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n DePasquale said in a statement that Mackenzie, Bresnahan and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry \u201ccare more about Donald Trump\u2019s cost-raising agenda than what\u2019s best for the people of Pennsylvania \u2026 After jetting all the way to Texas to champion an agenda of higher gas prices, cost-raising tariffs, and healthcare cuts, Mackenzie, Bresnahan, Perry, and the entire PA GOP have proven that they\u2019ll put Trump ahead of our Commonwealth every single time \u2013 and Pennsylvanians are ready to send them packing this November,\u201d DePasquale said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republicans held a two-day convention in Dallas to energize Republican voters ahead of this year\u2019s midterm elections \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3444,3145,34,4283,2156,28,30,29,1580,1582],"class_list":["post-283582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-campaigns-elections","tag-dave-mccormick","tag-donald-trump","tag-john-fetterman","tag-news-politics","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-rob-bresnahan","tag-ryan-mackenzie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}