FULL: JD Vance’s 2026 RNC Midterm Convention speech

Please welcome the 50th vice president. [music] of the United States of America, JD Vance. [music]. >> [music]. >> on the west side of.

the man [music]. [music]. [music]. alone. Hello, Dallas.

I got to say it's it's pretty cool to. hear a crowd that is this fired up chant. your name. So go ahead and do it again.

I have to I have to start ladies and. gentlemen with a note of gratitude to. each and every single person in this. room and each and every single person. who's watching whether you're in the. convention hall with us or watching from. home on TV. You are here tonight because. you love this country and we're not. going to let it go backwards.

Two years ago, we have to remember our. nation, ladies and gentlemen, was tired. We were tired of seeing our factories. close. We were tired of our neighbors. dying of drug overdoses. We were tired. of not being able to afford anything. We. were tired of seeing the cartels and the. criminals given free reign over our. great country. And we were tired of. being called racists for noticing that.

our country was becoming dirtier and. poorer and less safe and less. prosperous. By the end of 2024, you were tired. We. were tired as a country, but you were. not defeated. The radicals in Washington, they could. take much from us, but they couldn't. take our will to fight back.

>> And so all of us came together on. November the 5th and we sent the. toughest so in American politics back to. the White House and we made Donald J. Trump, the 47th president of the United. States. [cheering]. >> Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is a uh. this is a joyful occasion for me. I see.

the great state of Ohio right here in. the front row. But. I gotta be honest, it's also a somber. occasion for me personally and I know. for so many of you out there because the. last time that I addressed the. convention of my fellow Republicans, remember just two years ago, I had just. become the Republican nominee for vice. president of the United States. [cheering]. >> I was.

I was a brand new senator. I'd been in. politics for all of a year and a half. I. guess the president likes outsiders. I was nervous. Think about it. I was. speaking on the biggest stage of my life. and I'd been in politics for barely a. year and a half. But I will never forget. that as I made that speech, as I. addressed the country on the biggest. stage of my life in the front row, right. about there, my dear friend Charlie Kirk. was smiling and cheering me and. reminding me that I had a good friend.

right here in the convention hall. And of course, after I was elected vice. president of the United States one year. ago today, on September the 10th of last. year, that good friend was taken from us. when Charlie was assassinated. Now, Charlie left behind two children, two little kids they were too young to.

fully understand, and a wife, the. amazing Erica, who has carried on his. mission with more courage and resolve. than most of us will ever be asked to. show. We love you, Erica. But to those sweet kids, I don't imagine. they're watching tonight. They're still. very young. But I hope that one day they. will watch and they will know and they. will understand what I'm trying to say. to them tonight.

Though they may not appreciate it today, history will record that your father was. a great man. Charlieie. Charlieie.

>> But those of us who loved your dad, we. knew him as something even better than a. great man. He was a good man. And I want you to know what your dad. knew. Scripture says that God is a father to. the fatherless. that every one of us is adopted into his. family. And as the apostle Paul told us, as he.

wrote to the Romans, if we are his. children, then we are also his heirs. We. have inherited, we are entitled to. inherit something straight from God the. Father. Now, we live, of course, in an imperfect. world of fallen men. We live in the city. of man, not the city of God. But I. believe that our founders built this. nation on a promise that echoes our. creator. That every American child is.

born an heir. Is born with a birthight. Born with the right to inherit the. blessings of the greatest country on. earth. Not because of who their parents. are. Not because of what they look like. or where they come from, but because. they are Americans. And this is our. country.

And that birthright, ladies and. gentlemen, is what this November is all. about. Now, Charlie spoke to young men in. particular. He was a young man himself, and he understood where they were coming. from. He understood that there was no. greater calling for a young man. And he. would tell people this than falling in. love, starting a family, and becoming a. father. He would tell young men around. the country that ultimately you wouldn't. care what your job was or where you went. to school, but you would care about your.

family. And of course, I've thought a. lot about those words. A lot of th about. those words in the last year, but. particularly a lot about those words. over the last six weeks. Because as many. of you know, in July, my beautiful Usha. gave birth to a baby boy, little Alec, just six weeks ago. And I will say that you should have been.

there when the organizers of the midterm. RNC asked my wife who had a two-week old. baby and three other kids that are very. young if she would come to Dallas, Texas. to to introduce her husband. And she. said, "Hell no, I got four kids to take. care of.". But she sends her love and I know she's. watching at home. And I I've thought a lot, ladies and.

gentlemen, about what is the birthright. of this newest of Americans, my little. boy. He is now our fellow citizen, though he doesn't know it. And I think. about what the Democrats have said about. our shared birthright as Americans, or. frankly, the lack thereof. In Michigan, one Democrat in particular, one. candidate has said, and I quote, "F the. nuclear family.".

>> F the nuclear family? What are you even. talking about? These hateful words come. not from a love of country. They come. not from a desire to serve you or our. fellow Americans, but they come from a. very deep emptiness in the soul. It is the nuclear family. It is inside. of that nuclear family where I watch my. four-year-old little girl, little Mera,

beg to feed a bottle to her new baby. brother. It's inside of the nuclear family where. Alex's older siblings just a couple of. weeks ago witnessed the wonder of a new. baby's very first smile. It's inside of that family where I've. seen Usha show an almost divine patience. with those four kids. And so to the radicals who wish to. abolish my family and the thousands and.

millions of other families all across. our country, we have a simple message. for them. Stay the hell away from our. kids. >> [screaming]. [cheering].

>> Now, because we got a new kid around, I. can't help but look at the future of. this country through the eyes of the. future of my son. And I can't help but. think about what it is that we're. fighting for and what it is that we want. for all of our children. Now, I of. course I want my son to grow up healthy. and strong. I want him to have access to. clean water in real food. I want him to live in a country where. you don't need a PhD in chemistry to. understand the ingredient list in the.

grocery store. I want to live in a country where my. son's doctors answer to parents and to. the hypocratic oath, not to a bunch of. far-left bureaucrats. I want him to get a real education. He's. going to grow up and go to school. I. want him to go to a school that teaches. him to read, to write, that reaches him.

arithmetic, that teaches him to love his country and. his fellow citizens. And. and what I want for my family, I want. for your family, too. That's my job. My. job is to fight for every single person. in this room, every person watching at. home, as if they were my own family, as. if they were my own kin.

And so I don't just want these things. for my kids, I want them for your kids, too. I want our daughters to compete on. a fair field where no politician. where no politician tells a little girl. she's got to surrender her trophy, her. scholarship, or her locker room to a. man.

>> I want our sons to have a fair shot at a. good job and I want that for our. daughters, too. I want whether they work. in tech or manufacturing, American. businesses to hire American workers, to. rely on American people, and to ensure. that we build the next generation of. great American products with American. hands. [cheering].

I want our children to be safe, ladies. and gentlemen. I want them to be safe on. their streets, safe in their schools, living peacefully in neighborhoods where. the law protects the innocent and throws. the violent criminals in prison where. they belong. I want them to be free to worship to the. dictates of their own conscience. And I.

want our children to grow up in a. country that doesn't roll its eyes at. people who pray, but remembers that this. country itself was an answer to prayer. 250 years ago. And I think like most parents, I want my. kids to do the most important thing. I.

want them to fall in love. I want them. to find somebody who's worth building a. life with. And I want them to be able to. afford a home where they can raise their. children in peace and prosperity and. comfort. I want them to know the pride of saving. up for something, of buying something. big and real that they're proud of. without being outbid by Wall Street. tycoons.

I want them to keep what they've earned. when they work hard. And that is the. birthright that I'm talking about. That. is the country that Donald J. Trump is. fighting every single day to defend and. to build upon. And while the president works every day. to build upon that great nation, every.

single day the far left is working right. now to make sure that your children. never see that birthright.

USA. So, what. what the people at home missed is that. we just had a protester interrupting us. and waving the Mexican flag. Well, well, my friend, if you love Mexico so. much, get your ass over there. I'll buy.

you the plane ticket. USA. USA USA.

USA USA, USA, USA, USA, USA. I had, ladies and gentlemen, I had a. whole speech written, >> but I think I got to change it because. we just discovered the symbol of the far.

left, an idiot waving an American flag. or a Mexican flag at a protest when he. should be waving the flag of the United. States of America. USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA. USA. >> Now, we we all know, of course, that as.

much as that person might wave around a. foreign flag, he'd much rather live in. Dallas or in Cincinnati. or in any one of our great cities than. Mexico. >> But while we wave the American flag and. fight for the American dream, we have to. remind ourselves tonight that the good. life that is the foundation of this. country's promise is not guaranteed.

We have to remember that a safe home, a. good school, a happy family, a future. that is better than the past. Every. generation of Americans has had to fight. for these things when it's our turn. And this fall, the Democrats are running. candidates who will tell your children. what they're allowed to say, how they're. allowed to live, and importantly, who.

they ought to hate. Cuz that's what the. Democrat party is about in 2026. It's. not about you. It's about foreign. fraudsters and it's about who they hate. And we got to send their asses packing. in November. We got to send a message to this nove we. got to send a message this November that. the country does not belong to the. radicals. It does not belong to the.

bureaucrats. It does not belong to the. highest bidder. This country was handed. down to us by our parents and their. parents before them. We received this. national birthright and we are going to. fight for it by electing Republicans. this November. [cheering].

>> [cheering]. >> fight. >> If you ever feeling down about our. country, ladies and gentlemen, just take. a look at the beautiful ladies right. behind me.

And I ladies, >> I'd like to know what you had to drink. cuz I'll take two of them when I'm done. >> We got to take stock, my friends. We got. to take stock of what we've. accomplished. >> When when we came into office,

Let's. Can we please We got to take care of. business this November. Then we'll worry. about what comes next. Wait. When we came into office, when we came. into office just 18 months ago, so many. of our fellow Americans sensed that.

they'd been robbed of their chance to. build a good life. They worried they'd. never be able to afford a home, a. family, or a real stake in the country. that all of us love. Consider how life. changed for Americans coming of age. during those terrible Biden years. Workers wages fell by three grand. That's not exaggeration. Prices rose 20%. across the board. The worst inflation in. a generation. And I always love when we.

said this, the president and I would go. during the campaign, we'd say, you know, inflation is as high as it's been in a. 100 years. And the fake news would say, "No, no, no. It's as high as it's been. in 68 years.". That ain't good. Ladies and gentlemen, in just four short years, the cost of a. home under Joe Biden doubled. And. Americans who are finishing school. suddenly found themselves competing not. against their fellow Americans for jobs,

but against 25 million new illegal. immigrants, not just for jobs, but for. homes as well. Our nation became a place where you had. to be rich to enjoy what used to be the. birthright of every ordinary middle. class life. It became a country where violent crime. exploded unless of course you could. afford private security. And it wasn't.

just that things became more expensive. It's that our country was stolen from us. and then handed out to strangers. Think just one case, one of the fraud. cases that we charged last May where two. women, one of them born in Somalia, defrauded Medicaid of $46 million. How did they do it? They did it by. creating fake autism clinics and then.

having their friends sign up and pretend. to have kids on the spectrum. And that's. millions of dollars that ordinary. American parents needed to help their. special needs children, but instead went. to foreign kickbacks and spending sprees. for fraudsters. And what. and what did the Democrats do when the. fraud they turned a blind eye to reach. these catastrophic levels? We found $250. billion dollars of fraud just since the. president made me the frauds.

>> When. When Medicaid programs for homeless or. expecting mothers in states like. Minnesota and Wisconsin, they began to. fall apart because the money that you. had paid to support those expectant. mothers was going to fraudsters. Here's. what the Democrats did. They refused to. prosecute the crime. And by the way, they called everybody who noticed their. fraud racist for noticing that there.

were people stealing from our children. and our new and expectant mothers. The Democrat legacy of the last few. years was that they bankrupted our. country and left us poorer. They left. our country weaker. They left our border. wide open and our communities less safe. Their record, my friends, speaks for. itself. And rather than admit error and. change course, of course, they are. doubling down on the crazy. And primary.

after primary, we have watched the few. reasonable Democrats lose to extremists. who openly hate our nation. Our flag. waving friend over there is actually the. new congressional delegate for New York. 14. He's here campaigning. But you got to ask, if it's not love a. country, what is it that drives this new. generation of radical Democrats? It's.

not new policies. They'll say the same. stuff. Defund the police, abolish the. border, the Green New Scam. We've heard. all this stuff before. But I think that. what's new about them is what motivates. them is a new type of hardcore hatred. >> Now, don't take my word for it. Listen. to what these people have actually said. in their own words. In Manhattan this. November, you have Democrat candidates. who declare their life goal is, and I. quote, the total eradication of Western.

civilization. A few years ago, they cheered on the. most horrific slaughter of innocent. civilian Jews that we have seen in a. generation. In Lancing, in Lancing, you have Democrats who call. for quote destroying the American way of. life. And in Texas, you have Democrats, grown.

men, who seem to be pretty obsessed with. trans children. I got to say the president's very good. at nicknames, but Talifico maybe tops. the list. But this Terico guy, he will not shut up. about how there are six genders. He will.

not shut up about how, quote, "God is. non-binary." I don't know what the hell. that even means, my friends. He won't shut up about having. traditional Christian values makes you a. bigot. And I got to say, a guy that age. who is so obsessed and focused on. transgender children, I don't know about. you, but I never want to see that guy's. web browser history. It's not a good place. We'd rather be.

here. In Denver, Colorado, you have Democrats. who say that 9/11 was inevitable, who offer justifications for terrorists. who murdered 3,000 of our fellow. citizens. And in Michigan, it's even. worse. They're campaigning with radicals. who explicitly say that America deserved. the 9/11 attacks. These are candidates who when they're. not calling to repeal the Second. Amendment, they will attack you as a.

literal white supremacist if you dare to. criticize Sharia law. In the great state of New York, congressional Democrats tell us that the. July 4th celebration is really about the. liberation of Palestine and Puerto Rico. I can't even say that without laughing. Can you just imagine Thomas Jefferson. writing away. all about the liberation of Palestine.

and Puerto Rico? And these aren't media personalities. These aren't weirdos on social media. These are the candidates that. congressional Democrats have put forth. for you to vote for in November. They asked, my friends, for a one-way. ticket to Washington to legislate and. regulate and wield power over your. lives. Instead, in my opinion, they need. a one-way ticket to a mental hospital.

Now, we're all having a good time as fellow. Republicans celebrating what we've. achieved and looking forward to. accomplishing a lot more. But I know. there are a lot of people who are. watching on TV who aren't always sold. And I want to speak directly to them. Not to the faithful, but to the people. who are still making up their minds. The. people on the margins, the people who.

are still a little unsure who they're. going to vote for. Some people who love. some of our policies but maybe don't. agree with others. young men, many of. whom felt inspired by Charlie Kirk, but. are unhappy with some of what has. happened in the wake of his death. And I want to speak directly to that. group because I think Charlie is a great. example of how to disagree but still. participate in the work of saving this. country.

Charlie. Charlie, ladies and gentlemen, was. dedicated to this movement and this. country. He loved, and I do mean loved, the president of the United States. But. in the 8 months or so that we were in. office before Charlie died, I talked to. him a lot, almost every day. And Charlie. was still a freethinker with his own. principles and views. He did not always. agree with us. Let me just give you one.

example. Charlie hated war. Whether it. was Europe or Africa, the Middle East, he didn't care. He just hated war. That. was his view. Now, of course, there are people who. love what we've done and people who. don't. I'm not here to litigate the. disagreements between Charlie and some. of the people that he disagreed with. But what I'm asking you to do is do what. Charlie did. Do not throw the baby out. with the bathwater. Don't.

don't give the country over to a bunch. of crazy people because you happen to. disagree with us on a policy issue here. or there. Look, I'm not asking anybody. to agree with me on every single issue. I'm not asking anybody to agree on every. single policy of the administration. What I am asking you to do is to. recognize the contrast with the radicals. and recognize the achievements of the. last 18 months. We have done a lot, my.

friends, and we can do a lot more if we. fight together. USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA. >> You know, Donald Trump's administration, it's not just the first government in.

the last 80 years to actually stop a. border invasion. It's the first in the. last 80 years to reverse the border. invasion. Under. under Donald Trump's leadership, we have. seen the foreignb born share of our. population drop by 3 million people. That's illegal aliens that we sent back. home.

Under Donald Trump's leadership, we've. created 1 million new jobs. And unlike. the last administration where most of. the job growth went to illegal aliens, 100% of the job growth in the United. States of America is going to American. citizens, which is exactly where it. belongs. For my entire life, I saw corporations. ship jobs overseas and be rewarded by.

Washington. Donald Trump is the first. president in my lifetime to crack down. on people shipping our jobs overseas and. fight for American businesses and. American workers for a change. We've seen the largest drop of violent. crime in the history of the United. States of America because we back the. police and throw the bad guys in prison. It's not rocket science.

We've ended taxes on social security. We've ended taxes on tips. And we've. ended taxes on overtime. We have banned. corporate tycoons from buying up our. housing stock because we hold the simple. belief that American homes ought to go. to the American people. And this is my favorite. Under the. leadership of the president and Bobby.

Kennedy, we did what generations of. Democrat politicians promised but failed. to do. We actually took on big pharma. and lowered drug costs for all of our. citizens. Now, I'm obviously biased, but I think. that's a great record of achievement. But compare it to the Democrats who want. to allow open borders, allow pharma.

companies to experiment on your kids. They want to raise your taxes and they. want to abolish their family in their. own words. We just want common sense and. we want you to have a better life. The. contrast in this election, ladies and. gentlemen, it's not about this or that. policy. It's about the party of common. sense beating the party of the crazies. Let's send these lunatics packing and. govern our country for the future.

I. a few a few weeks back I got to visit. the steel mill. I love y'all. [cheering].

a few weeks back. I got to tell you, a a very personal and. and important thing to me is a few weeks. back, one of the most amazing honors. I've had as vice president is I got to. visit the steel mill where my. grandfather worked for 40 years in my. hometown of Middletown, Ohio.

And standing on that floor, I thought. about my pap. That's what I called him. And I and the 40 years he spent there as. a union welder. I thought about what he. wanted out of this country, out of his. government. He wanted happy, healthy. families. He wanted low taxes. He wanted. a government that would look out for him. and make sure his people had good jobs. so long as they were willing to work. hard and play by the rules. Simple. stuff, easy stuff, common sense, good.

government stuff. And despite everything. that's changed since he died, the things. he wanted are the things that I want and. I think the things that every American. patriot wants for our country. We want. it for ourselves. We want it for our. families. We want it for our children. We want it for our fellow Americans. But right after that visit, something. interesting happened. The man the. Democrats are running for Senate in the. great state of Michigan, his name is.

Abdul Elsed. He saw me describing what a decent man. and my papa was genuinely a decent and. good man. He saw me talking about my. papa and his work and his history and. what he loved and what he cared about. And you know what old Abdul did? He. asked mockingly whether I'd be willing. to bring Usha back in time to meet Papa.

This is what he thinks of my. grandfather, a man I loved and who loved. his family unconditionally. Abdul looks. at him, sees the color of his skin, sees. his background, and decides that he. could never have loved my wife. Now, the shocking thing shocking thing. is that Abdul himself was raised by his. own white stepgrparents. 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. Well, thanks be to God that. my papal was a better man than Abdul. Elsed because I guarantee you he'd love. my family every bit as much. [cheering]. But look, I. I I'm not just here to defend the honor. of my bad ball. I'm here to tell you. this is who the Democrats are now, my.

friends. They're not just the party of. little higher taxes, maybe some dumb. regulations. They're not the party of. FDR or JFK. Hell, they're not even the. party of Bill Clinton anymore. The Democrats are the party of hatred. >> They're the party that despises America. and the people who built it. They're the. party that can find sympathy for the. terrorists who perpetrated 9/11. But. they say that people with names like. James Vance are incapable of loving.

people with names like Usha. And they. couldn't be more wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, because the. Democrats have become such a nightmare, we can never we will never let them win. We're going to beat them back in. November.

So, I'm asking you my fellow Republicans. to remember that this November is so. much more than red team versus blue. team. It's so much more than having good. politicians in Washington. It's about. sending a message to the Democratic. Party that if you send your crazies, we're going to send you packing.

It's about it's about fighting for our. fellow citizens, for their dreams, and. for the inheritance of a great nation. that all of us are going to leave. behind. So, I've got to ask my fellow. Republicans, are we ready to do what we. need to do in November? Every American, whether they've been. here for 10 years or 10 minutes,

deserves the sacred inheritance of the. United States of America. Ladies and. gentlemen, this November, let's give it. to them. Let's fight for our people. Let's send the Democrats packing and. let's never forget that America belongs. to those who love it, not those who hate. it. God bless you and thank you for. having me.

And without further ado, I've got to. introduce the man who is going to. introduce the greatest President.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in. welcoming the great Lee Greenwood and. the President of the United States. >> Hello, Patriots.