GOP midterm convention: Trump directs crowd in a pledge to himself

Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt encouraged Republicans to get out and vote in the midterms and attacked Democrats on affordability, crime and immigration.

"The Democrats claim to care about affordability, but every single one of them voted against cutting your taxes, against Trump investment accounts for your kids and against expanding the child tax credit. The Democrats' false economic promises may sound nice on paper, but in practice they will only result in empty opportunities in broken communities," Leavitt said.

"We cannot be safe in an America run by Democrats who want to open our borders, defund our police, and abolish prisons," she added.

She also invoked the name of Charlie Kirk, the conservative podcaster who was assassinated last year during a campus appearance in Utah.

"But as mothers, as parents, as Americans, we are called to pair our prayer with action," Leavitt said. "Nobody did this better than our dear friend Charlie Kirk, who spent his life encouraging us to respectfully debate and actively participate in our democracy."

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr

Sen. Ted Cruz described the Democratic Party as being swept by a "red-green alliance: communists and Islamists coming together" because they hate Christians, Jews, and America.

A day ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Cruz said "And on 9/11, could anyone have imagined that Comrade Mamdani would be the mayor of New York?" he said, referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

He continued with attacks on Sharia law, saying, "Hear me now. Sharia law has no place in America, Sharia law. Sharia law is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution, and we need to stand together and stop it now. A simple truth: When people tell you who they are, believe them."

He focused his attacks on Mamdani, streamer Hassan Piker, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Texas Democratic Senate Democratic Candidate James Talarico, saying " When Hassan Piker says America deserved 9/11, believe him. When Mandami says he wants to seize the means of production, he means it. When Abdul El-Sayed says he has a, quote, ‘obligation to comply with Sharia law,’ he means it. And when James Talarico says he wants to dismantle capitalism, he means it."

He ended by saying, "We must stand and fight for freedom. We must stand and defeat the communists. We must stand and defeat the Islamists, and together, arm in arm, we must save America."

-ABC News’ Diana Paulsen

In his keynote address Thursday night, Vance is expected to do something similar to what he did last time he stood on a stage like this during the 2024 Republican National Convention: blend his upbringing with a populist vision for the country and urge voters across the country to keep fighting for the nation, according a source familiar with his speech.

He's expected to talk about his personal life story and the hardships he went through, which included growing up in poverty and his relationship to his mother, who once struggled with drug addiction, the source said.

He's also expected to reflect on becoming a father again for the fourth time, welcoming his son, Alec Vance, in July, and the death of Charlie Kirk, a close personal friend of Vance who advocated for him to become Trump's vice presidential pick, according to the source.

Vance's address tonight will be a big moment for him, as he's widely seen as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination if he runs in the 2028 election.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

Senate Majority Leader John Thune dodged questions in an interview Thursday about whether the Senate could deliver the votes necessary to approve the $5,000 dividend checks Trump promised at the convention Wednesday night.

"Well that's a good question,” he told Fox News, “and we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Obviously the president, the condition he put on it is elect us. And I think the focus, the emphasis he was making there and I think this is a clear one between us and the Democrats is he wants more money in the pockets of the American people.”

Approving $5,000 checks for Americans would normally require 60 votes in the Senate, though if Republicans retain the majority in both chambers they could try to use the budget reconciliation process to sidestep that.

Thune was also asked whether Republicans would deliver additional tax cuts.

"We will take another run at it, you bet. I mean obviously we did a lot last summer with the working families tax cuts legislations but there are things in tax policy that we looked at that didn't make it into that bill and obviously we are going to be looking at every opportunity we can to allow the American people to keep more of what they earn and put money in their pockets and not in the pockets of big government and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.," he said.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin