As the first-ever Republican midterm convention entered its second and final day, Democratic lawmakers and protesters gathered in Dallas to counter the GOP’s messaging ahead of a critical election season.
The GOP midterm convention’s Thursday schedule featured speeches from President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and other prominent GOP leaders. Trump and others sought to cast Democrats as extremists and “communists,” with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed emerging as a frequent target of attacks.
Throughout the day, Democratic leaders fought back by torching several unpopular Trump administration policies, including his tariffs and the Iran war.
Though Trump and his supporters have praised the economy and food and gas prices, Democrats argued that his actions in office have hurt working-class Americans struggling amid rising costs of living.
“We’re the truth brigade and the American people are tired of the lies,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) said.
Kamlager-Dove was part of a team of out-of-state Democratic representatives — including Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Rep. Jason Crow (CO), and Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA) — sent by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to Dallas ahead of the GOP’s convention at the American Airlines Center.
The Congressional coalition spoke alongside Texas Democrats at a Thursday news conference, where they hoped to draw a clear difference between themselves and the Republican party by emphasizing Democrats’ focus on affordability.
They criticized the GOP for hosting a “fantasy land” convention — where some tickets were being reportedly sold for as high as $25,000 — amid U.S. economic upheaval.
“As Donald Trump and J.D. Vance party away for two days, the average American family can’t afford the groceries,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said. “Donald Trump does not care about the average American family or about affordability.”
In the afternoon, the Dallas Against the Trump Agenda Coalition hosted a march that drew around 100 anti-Trump protesters. Attendees carried signs with messages like “The Constitution is not optional!” and “Be Dolly not Donald” as they marched from Pike Place toward the convention center.
A security zone ultimately stopped the group before they reached their destination. Though a majority of the protest was peaceful, Dallas police arrested two people following an altercation with counterprotesters before the end of the march.
Later that night, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Tarrant County Democrats headlined a “We the People” rally at Dallas City Hall to encourage more people to get out and vote in the midterms.
Speakers drew attention to the 92 polling sites cut in Tarrant County, a move that critics have said will reduce the amount of people able to cast ballots in the upcoming election.
Like many Democrats at the rally and at the earlier news conference, however, O’Rourke held an optimistic vision for Texas’s future and said he believed the state could turn blue.
He said the GOP midterm convention and the decision to hold it in Dallas was a sign that Republicans were scared of losing voters in Texas.
At the convention, Trump, Vance, Cruz, and other speakers encouraged attendees to go to the polls in November, reflecting the Republican party’s larger concern about lower voter turnout for their party this election season.
“They are so afraid they’re about to lose this state, because they are,” O’Rourke said.