Live updates: John Fetterman makes bombshell video appearance at Republican midterm convention

Republicans’ midterm convention got off to a rough start when Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters took the stage to begin the midterm convention, and an “L” fell off the Dallas host committee logo.

The sign was later fixed when other speakers took the stage, but the mishap marks another bump in the road as Republicans hold the first-of-its-kind convention.

Earlier in the day, the emergency slide was deployed from Trump’s Qatar-gifted Air Force One jet. The president said the slide deployment was part of a check-up.

Click here to read more from the Washington Examiner.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner she was pitched on running for president in 2028 at the GOP’s midterm convention on Wednesday.

“Someone pitched me for a presidential run in a 2028 cycle,” Luna said. “Not even kidding. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.'”

Luna said she was focused on “getting re-elected” this November in Florida’s 13th congressional district. Yet, Luna has also flexed her political muscle by hitting the campaign trail and backing GOP House candidates in competitive general elections, open-seat primaries, and even races pitting fellow Republicans against one another.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) made a surprise appearance at the RNC midterm convention to praise Trump’s policies and introduce his Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. David McCormick (R-PA).

“Yes, I’m a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a common-sense Democrat,” Fetterman said. “I’m always going to stand with America. I’m 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’s going to fight for Pennsylvania. I’m proud to count him as my friend,” he added. “Right back over my shoulder. That’s the iconic U.S. Steel Mill, and that’s exactly the kind of thing that will work together, and we’ll work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life right here in the Steele Valley. I have this opportunity to introduce this great American, a great senator, and yes, he’s in a different party, but I’m proud to count him as my great friend.”

The freshman senator’s appearance marks his clearest step out on the Democratic Party yet, as rumors have swirled for months that Fetterman was looking to cross the aisle. If he were to change his party affiliation, it would pose a serious risk for Democrats as they seek to regain control of the chamber.

Fetterman has drawn red lines with his party as socialist candidates have notched wins in primary elections, some of whom have made opposition to Israel a cornerstone of their campaigns. Fetterman has remained steadfast in providing aid to the Jewish state.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton kept his remarks to standard Republican policies, repeating points established by other GOP incumbents and candidates earlier in the evening.

Paxton positioned Republican objectives against Democratic state Sen. James Talarico’s “crazy ideas,” emphasizing the familiar point that Talarico has a warped sense of Christianity and that he is a “socialist.”

“California already has two senators. It doesn’t need a third,” Paxton said.

Paxton also highlighted his “Protecting the Texas Promise Plan,” which includes the attorney general’s plans for affordability and tax cuts.

“It means a healthy living tax deduction for gym memberships, nutrition plans, and yes, even doctor-prescribed GLP-1s, even though I know no one in this room is using those,” he said, poking fun at the popular weight-loss drug.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) will reportedly make a video appearance at the RNC midterm convention to praise Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), according to Axios.

While Fetterman’s appearance would certainly make a splash, rumors that the senator has been eyeing a party flip have been swirling for months. Fetterman has often ripped into Democratic candidates in the midterm elections for opposing Israel, saying support for the Jewish state is “nonnegotiable” for him.

Fetterman’s video remarks are expected to be played before McCormick takes the stage.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) began his remarks at the RNC midterm convention with a “land acknowledgment,” seeming to mock a similar gesture often done by Democratic leaders. Gill, however, was acknowledging “the great state of Texas.”

“I’d like to acknowledge that we stand here today in the great state of Texas and the United States of America, the ancestral homeland of great American patriots, pioneers, and explorers who put down roots, fought for freedom all over the globe, and bled and died to build the greatest civilization ever known to man,” Gill said.

Land acknowledgments typically recognize that a venue sits on land historically inhabited by Native American tribes.

As the RNC midterm convention was in full swing, Trump took to Truth Social to post a video parodying a famous 1970s speech proclaiming “God gave us Trump.”

The audio mimics Paul Harvey’s 1978 speech “So God Made a Farmer,” delivered to the Future Farmers of America. In the audio Trump posted, the president is championed as a defender of Democracy, ready to take on “communists.”

North Carolina Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley ripped his opponent, former Gov. Roy Cooper, over the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska.

Zarutska was a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman who moved to Charlotte in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Zarutska’s alleged killer, DeCarlos Brown Jr., was released early from prison by Cooper.

“This is the radical Democrats’ playbook to raise costs on our families, to impose a reckless tax and spend agenda, to release violent criminals from prison, like Roy Cooper did in North Carolina,” Whatley said. “Cooper set up a revolving door that put criminals back on the streets again and again and again.”

Whatley also noted the Senate Leadership Fund’s “Felon Friday” email series, which highlights a criminal allegedly released early under Cooper’s leadership.

DALLAS — Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) defended speaking at the Republican midterm convention, despite being in a competitive race amid President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings.

“He’s president of the United States, and whether people want to say yay or nay, the fact is he’s the president,” Lawler told the Washington Examiner. “This is an opportunity to talk about what we’ve actually done, and my speech is going to focus on what I’ve delivered for my district, and in fact, standing up to the president to do it.”

Lawler previewed that he would be accompanied by Sheridan Gorman’s family during his address on Thursday.

He said their “beautiful 18-year-old daughter Sheridan was brutally murdered by a criminal, illegal alien who was allowed into this country under the Biden administration, released back out onto the streets after being arrested for shoplifting under Chicago’s disastrous criminal pro-criminal policies, including cash as bail and their sanctuary jurisdiction.”

“So, being able to have my constituents share their story about their daughter was important to me, and so I’m proud to stand with them as they share that story with the nation,” he added.

Lawler amplified the importance of bipartisanship as he downplayed the direness of his election, contending he has “always been in a tight race.”

“I represent a district that has 80,000 more Democrats than Republicans,” he continued. “I beat the chair of the DCCC, all right, in 2022. I won a district that Kamala Harris won by 6.5 points because my district and my constituents know who I am.”

Republicans are emphasizing the ideological divide in the Democratic Party as socialist candidates gain traction in marquee races in the midterm elections, with Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) saying the 2026 elections are a decision between “common sense and communism.”

“This is an election between common sense and communism, between America lovers, and hate America extremists,” Emmer said.

Before Emmer took the stage, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) also highlighted Democrats’ intraparty divisions. He added that if they take back the chamber in November, Trump could face another impeachment.

“The Democrat Party has been completely taken over by crazy communists,” Scalise said. “I call it the Bolshevik Revolution and the Democrat Party. And if they get back the gavel … the first thing they’ll do is impeach President Trump and his Cabinet.”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) slammed Democrats for attempting to take credit for the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation fund in the Republican budget bill last year. 

Orden reminded the audience that not a single Democrat in the House or Senate voted to support the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling out House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for taking credit for rural health spending on the campaign trail.

“Democrats spent months demonizing the tax cut we delivered, and now that millions of dollars are returning back home to rural communities, they’re rushing to take credit for one of the largest investments,” Van Orden said. “You don’t get to do that, Hakeem.”

The bill’s $50 billion fund for revitalizing healthcare infrastructure will be spent across all 50 states over the next five years. The fund was created in part to offset disruptions to the healthcare system following nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid spending reductions over the next decade, which Democrats have argued will hinder access to care.

Van Orden said the investment will benefit his district by keeping the local hospital open and by “bringing billions of dollars back” to Wisconsin’s Medicaid program, while targeting waste, fraud, and abuse in the low-income health insurance program.

Orden also touted President Donald Trump’s proposal for a Great American Healthcare plan bill, saying Trump wants to work with Congress to “further lower prescription drug costs, increase pricing transparency, and hold the insurance companies accountable for the cost they’ve imposed on you.”

Ron and Wanda Liptow, a husband and wife who live along the southern border, said Customs and Border Protection agents “became just like family” during Trump’s first term.

“The Border Patrol uses our boat dock to launch their boats,” Wanda Liptow said. “Over time, we got to know many of the agents personally, and they became just like family.”

The border resident said Trump’s secure border disappeared when Biden took office, saying that “every week” illegal immigrants were crossing into the United States.

Photos of Democratic leaders looking angry were displayed behind an everyday voter who previously voted for Democrats as she took the stage.

In the photos were former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Onstage was Ally Raskin, a former Democratic voter among many “everyday voters” to take the stage during the convention.

Brother and sister candidates Carlos De La Cruz and Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) were among the first candidates to take the stage at the midterm convention.

Carlos de la Cruz, an Air Force veteran, is running for Texas’s redrawn 35th Congressional District, looking to join his sister in the House. His sister serves Texas’s 15th Congressional District in the chamber.

If Carlos de la Cruz wins the general election in the competitive district, he and his sister will join a select few siblings to have been in Congress together.

DALLAS — An influential Republican Latino activist said that President Donald Trump has not done enough to address economic concerns before November’s midterm elections.

“I will admit that I don’t sense that this administration during these two years has quite met expectations that the Latino community had as far as GDP growth and bringing down inflation to, you know, 2% or less,” Daniel Garza, president and founder of the Libre Initiative, told the Washington Examiner.

He added that he would like to hear how Trump plans “to work with the other side.”

“There’s a lot of obstruction coming from the Democrats,” he said. “A smart leader knows how to win them over. You know, how to reconcile differences, give and take, so we can arrive at solutions together as a nation.”

With two months before the elections, Garza warned Latinos, who helped Trump win the presidency in 2024, are “very swingy” and “transactional.”

“You know, what have you done for me lately?” he said. “They like outcomes. They want to see what you did as far as results.”