“You got to get out and vote, and you got to pretend I’m on the ballot,” Trump said, while also getting the crowd at the Dallas gathering – dubbed “Trump-a-palooza” by his supporters – to pledge allegiance to him.
“You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell,” he added.
As the president is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term – even as he has repeatedly teased running anyway – Vance’s speech in Dallas may have served as an audition for the 2028 presidential nomination, a prospect he briefly addressed in his remarks.
“We gotta take care of business this November and then we’ll worry about what comes next,” Vance said, referencing the midterm elections, accompanied by shouts of “28! 28!” from the crowd.
Vance also spoke about Charlie Kirk, who he said loved Trump but hated war, and urged voters not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” over policy disagreements. Several speakers, including Vance and Donald Trump Jnr, paid tribute to Kirk during their speeches that took place on the anniversary of his death.
