<\/p>\n
Collin County Young Republicans member Aidan Shull attended the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, September 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Aidan Shull, 21, skipped his political science classes Thursday to see President Donald Trump<\/a>. Cat Krankota, 17, put off studying for the SAT to protest him.<\/p>\n The two Gen Z Texans\u00a0viewed Trump\u2019s convention<\/a> from opposite sides of the political divide last week, one inside the spectacle at American Airlines Center, the other outside of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Together, with strongly held beliefs, they offered a glimpse of how a new generation is finding its voice.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Shull was seated beneath bright stage lights, as speaker after speaker took the stage before Trump\u2019s closing address. In a neat suit<\/a> with an American flag on his lapel, he snapped photos and applauded among hundreds of other Republicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve never seen Trump in person,\u201d said Shull, who received a ticket from a family friend. \u201cIt\u2019s an interesting story to tell people when I\u2019m older.\u201d<\/p>\n Booker T. Washington High School student Cat Krankota speaks during a rally against President Donald Trump outside Dallas City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Across downtown, less than two miles away,\u00a0Krankota waited in the humid air outside City Hall to speak to a rally organized to counter<\/a> the Republican program. A raised-fist sticker on her black T-shirt read \u201cPower to the People.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The high school senior high-fived Beto O\u2019Rourke, the former Democratic congressman from El Paso, before taking the stage.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here because of my persistent hope and prayer that one day we won\u2019t have to scream until our voices waver just to be heard. But that time has not come yet,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cSo let me hear y\u2019all get loud!\u201d<\/p>\n The contrasting scenes<\/a> unfolded less than two months before the November midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m in it now\u2019<\/p>\n On the first night of the Republican midterm convention,\u00a0Krankota was at theater practice.<\/p>\n During a rehearsal for high school\u2019s production of Shrek the Musical, she and other crew members had 90 seconds to transform Fiona from human into a green ogre \u2014 painting the performer\u2019s face, adding a prosthetic nose and coordinating a full costume change.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: From sparkles to Stetsons, a look at GOP fashion at Trump\u2019s Dallas convention<\/a><\/p>\n It was a different kind of teamwork Krankota described as her political breakout.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, she helped organize a walkout at Booker T. Washington High School<\/a> for the Performing and Visual Arts. Krankota led hundreds of students left class and marched to Klyde Warren Park to protest federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe walkout was sort of my big \u2018I\u2019m in it now\u2019 situation,\u201d Krankota said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said she had long been interested in politics but became more involved partly through the example of her mother, criminal defense attorney Alison Grinter Allen, who won the Democratic nomination for judge of Dallas County\u2019s 282nd District Court and faces no Republican opponent in November.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Booker T. Washington High School student Cat Krankota speaks during a rally against President Donald Trump outside Dallas City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n To Krankota, political engagement means looking beyond your own circumstances. She urged young people on the political right to do the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t think that just because it isn\u2019t you right now that you are safe from an oppressive regime,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u2018Team America\u2019<\/p>\n Shull had three choices as he ordered at the hotel bar of the Young Republicans \u201cVictory Party\u201d near the arena Wednesday night: \u201cThe Trump\u201d whiskey and Diet Coke; the \u201cAmerica First\u201d margarita; and the \u201cLake America\u201d old fashioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cLake America\u201d was the most popular drink. By the end of the night, tables were covered with empty glasses holding only soggy, discarded cherries.<\/p>\n Shull spent the day across the street inside the dark convention hall<\/a> with others in the Young Republican National Federation, 20- and 30-something GOP members from chapters across the country. For the GOP\u2019s Generation Z, the convention was two days of politics and partying.<\/p>\n Courtney Jackson (left), 31, of Canton, listens to Matthew Proper, 28, a city councilman in Gun Barrell City, as Young Republicans host an event at The W in Dallas during the Republican Convention on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Stewart F. House\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Shull believes Trump \u201cholds up the importance of what being a president is.\u201d But he isn\u2019t happy with every aspect of his presidency.\u00a0<\/p>\n Average Americans should be able to afford to raise a family, pay for school and have a career, he said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bad deal right now,\u201d Shull said.<\/p>\n Shull joined the Collin County Young Republicans group to talk politics with people he relates to, in age and ideology<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He believes young Democrats are \u201cmisguided on what makes this country great.\u201d But they are worried about the same things as Republicans \u2014 housing and jobs<\/a>, which he called \u201cthe two biggest things that young people right now are stressed about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a different response to the same issues,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Trump closes Republican midterm convention in Dallas with crowd pledge to vote<\/a><\/p>\n The GOP is not perfect, he said: Old-guard Republicans believe it\u2019s their party and no one else\u2019s, while young Republicans are more focused on results.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s one way that things are thought about, and if you don\u2019t stay within that, it\u2019s like you\u2019re not on the team, right?\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m on Team America. I\u2019m not on Team Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n As the convention ended Thursday night, Shull watched the floor of the arena fill with popping balloons as crews started clearing two days of revelry<\/a>. He filed out of the AAC with thousands of others, spilling into the chaotic exodus<\/a> from Victory Park to make his way home to McKinney. \u00a0<\/p>\n Krankota was at home, studying for her SAT while FaceTiming her best friend attending college in California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collin County Young Republicans member Aidan Shull attended the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,89489,87998,91243,90463],"class_list":["post-434803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-tp-american-airlines-center","tag-tp-dallas","tag-tp-donald-trump","tag-tp-texas-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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