Vance speech at ‘Trumpapalooza’ provides calling card for 2028 presidential run: ‘If you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there’

U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance delivered a speech Thursday at the Republican convention in Dallas as a prelude to the midterm elections. In it, he presented his credentials as a 2028 presidential candidate before an audience receptive to a message that stood out above the rest: that the Democratic Party is the “party of hatred” and that voting for its candidates in November poses a threat to the nation’s prosperity.

That party, Vance said, is “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,” the vice president said during a 40-minute speech that the audience received enthusiastically, rising to its feet and chanting, “J. D., J. D., J. D!.”

Contrary to expectations, the vice president became the focal point of the closing night of the Trumpapalooza, the nickname given to the Republican convention after the president scheduled himself for both nights. Trump spoke on Wednesday, an evening in which he delivered what sounded like a desperate all-or-nothing promise to avert a collapse at the ballot box. He vowed, he said, to give $5,000 to every American adult if voters allow Republicans to keep control of both chambers of Congress in the November elections.

And he did it again Thursday to close the convention and reserve the final word for himself after Vance’s address. The president showed up with a tired expression and said he would not speak for long, although he then spent 40 minutes repeating arguments he had already made, jokes he had already told and promises he had already offered. The most unsettling moment came when he led the crowd in a variation of the Pledge of Allegiance whose wording he changed to honor the “best president in U.S. history”: himself. That made clear how much those gathered in Dallas this week resemble a congregation of followers of a cult.

Earlier, Vance had offered a speech that put his best face forward, closer to that of a classic conservative, and positioning himself to succeed Trump as the 2028 presidential nominee. He was helped by the fact that his main rival in the betting pools, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was away on a trip to Latin America. After the crowd chanted “48!” in reference to the next president of the United States, who will be the 48th, he said “We’ve got to take care of business this November. Then we’ll worry about what comes next.”

Mexican flag

Minutes earlier, security personnel had removed a protester who tried to enter carrying a Mexican flag. The incident gave Vance’s speech a xenophobic turn; until then he had focused on the “right to birthright citizenship” of those born in the United States. He also mounted a defense of the traditional family, called for tough action on crime and advocated anti‑woke education. “Well, well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” Vance told the protester.

Like the other speakers, the vice president also dwelt on the day’s dominant theme: fear. Fear of communism. Fear of immigration. Fear of Muslims. Fear of gender treatments and of “genital mutilation of minors.”

“Listen to me, sharia law has no place in the United States,” exclaimed Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the midafternoon, invoking one of the far right’s favorite bogeymen: the idea that Islamism is banging on the doors of American culture.

However, it was Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El‑Sayed — a rising star of the Democrats’ progressive wing who has become the Republicans’ new bogeyman — who was perhaps the most mentioned rival, maybe because he is a new face.

El‑Sayed was unknown only half a year ago. The fact that, on Thursday, one attendee at the Republican Convention shouted that someone should shoot him indicates how much this 41‑year‑old Muslim doctor has become a symbol of the socialist wave attracting young Democrats with his support for antitrust laws, higher taxes on big corporations and improved access to healthcare for the disadvantaged.

Two anniversaries also marked the day: a year since the assassination of MAGA youth leader Charlie Kirk, and 25 years since the attacks of 9/11. Kirk was remembered by many who took the stage, but especially by Vance, who has made the friendship between them a banner, despite, the vice president said, that they did not “always agree.” The attack on the World Trade Center was the subject of a tribute featuring survivors and workers who assisted victims that day.

The solemn tone disappeared completely as Trump warmed to his speech, which ended with the crowd shouting his slogans at the top of their lungs. Afterwards, as he had promised, he called his go‑to tenor, Christopher Macchio, to the stage, of whom, in another display of his ersatz musical taste, he said is “almost as good as Pavarotti.”

Macchio performed America the Beautiful, the aria Nessun Dorma and a selection from The Phantom of the Opera while Trump beamed beside him and red, blue and gold balloons fell onto the Dallas Mavericks court in a final tribute to the event’s main (and, in truth, only) protagonist.

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