Vance Keynotes Republican Convention With Kirk Tribute

DALLAS - Vice President JD Vance delivered the primetime keynote address on the closing night of the Republican midterm convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, with President Donald Trump returning to the stage afterward for closing remarks. The speech blended a tribute to the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, attacks on Democratic candidates and a forward-looking case for the party that many attendees read as positioning for 2028. Vance honored Kirk on the one-year anniversary of his assassination at a college rally in Utah, addressing a message to Kirk's two young children. History, he told the crowd, would record that their father was a great man. He also urged conservative voters who disagree with parts of the administration not to abandon the party over individual policy disputes. The vice president reserved his sharpest criticism for Democrats, singling out two Michigan candidates on the ballot this fall: Senate hopeful Abdul ElSayed and House candidate Will Lawrence.