---
title: "\"Pretend that I'm on the ballot\""
---

Vance set to headline second day of GOP convention. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

| View in browser September 10, 2026 Good Thursday evening. In this edition: Vance takes center stage at GOP midterm convention following Trump's $5K pledge and Fetterman's surprise appearance. Plus, Missouri map, Medal of Honor monument, and Bush on 9/11. GOP Midterm Convention Vice President JD Vance is set to headline the second and final night of the Republican midterm convention, giving him a national spotlight ahead of the November elections and an expected 2028 presidential run. The vice president, who spent two years in the Senate before joining the Trump ticket, is the current favorite for the GOP nomination in 2028, leading his closest potential rival, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in both polling and betting markets. The first day of the convention wrapped with President Trump's keynote address in which he touted his accomplishments, hammered Democrats and urged Republicans to turn out next month as if he were on the ballot. "I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot," he said. "The midterms are not supposed to be won by the sitting president, and we're going to change that." The biggest splash came when the president promised to issue a $5,000 payment to every American adult if Republicans hold on to both chambers of Congress in November. "Because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000," he said. The president did not specify where the funding would come from or whether he would ask Congress to approve it. Such a move would likely cost more than $1 trillion. Democrats quickly accused the president of trying to bribe voters and pointed out that he had made similar promises before, including the DOGE dividend and tariff rebates that never materialized. "Trump's presidency is so failed and broken, he is resorting to trying to bribe the American people for their votes," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on social media. "An insult to Americans, to democracy, and an admission of how absolutely screwed he is." Democratic Sen. John Fetterman also made a surprise video appearance to introduce fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick (R), whom he called "the kind of senator that gets the job done." "Yes, I'm a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I'm a commonsense Democrat," he 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." The appearance, in which he also talked about his "work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life," did not sit well with Democrats. "I know and I like John Fetterman, but he lost me last night with that stunt," Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) said on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. "What it's time for him to do is represent Pennsylvania the way he ran, with the values that he ran on," she added. "Sadly, the work that he is doing now as senator does not reflect those same values." While Vice President Vance will get the keynote slot tonight, President Trump is slated to deliver another set of remarks to close out the two-day convention. Other speakers include Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump Jr., and former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. There will also be a tribute to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, marking the one-year anniversary of his assassination on a college campus in Utah. Watch the convention LIVE on C-SPAN. Add C-SPAN.org to your Preferred Sources in Google to keep trusted, nonpartisan coverage in your search results. In other news… The Supreme Court again blocked Missouri from using a newly drawn congressional map in the November midterms that favors Republicans. The ruling appears to resolve the confusion created Tuesday by conflicting court orders. Justice Brett Kavanaugh first let a Missouri Supreme Court ruling stand blocking the new map, but hours later, a federal judge presiding over a separate case ordered the state to use it. On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the federal judge's order, putting Missouri back on course to use its 2022 congressional map in November. The state held its August primaries using the new map, meaning voters will use different congressional districts in the general election. President Trump signed into law a bill authorizing a planned monument honoring recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, to be built on the National Mall. Congress first authorized the monument in 2021. The new law allows it to be built within the Reserve, the protected area of the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial. Federal funds will not be used to build the monument. Funds will instead be raised by the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. The signing took place at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. Former President George W. Bush sat down Wednesday night for a conversation with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. He reflected on the day and its aftermath, and warned against American isolationism. "Our nation occasionally goes through isolationist periods — where the attitude is 'we've got too many problems at home, therefore, who cares what happens overseas' — which really means to me they just don't pay attention to the lesson of 9/11. Because what happens overseas matter to our national security at home," he said. For your radar… C-SPAN on Friday will air events from around the country as Americans mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including commemorations at the Pentagon, Ground Zero and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Watch LIVE on all three networks beginning at 6am ET. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here C-SPAN is on YouTube. Subscribe today for live coverage, consequential moments, memorable exchanges and the political events everyone will be talking about. Full Schedule Copyright © 2026 C-SPAN, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in. C-SPAN, 400 North Capitol Street NW, Suite 155, Washington, DC 20001 Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
| --- |