Wednesday marked the first night of the Republican Party’s likely ill-advised midterm convention, and unsurprisingly, things got a little weird. The pre-Trump programming featured everything from Hasan Piker’s underwear to Tim Scott screaming. After President Trump took over, he covered everything from Ken Paxton’s face to the Dallas Mavericks’ bombshell Luka Dončić trade but mostly just talked about himself. Here’s the most notable stuff you missed.
Trumpalooza was true to its name
Per NBC News’ count, day-one speakers mentioned him 155 times, then Trump name-checked himself another 16 times. And this presumably doesn’t include all the times everyone mentioned the president without saying his name.
Trump’s flying palace briefly had a slide
Trump was set to fly out to Dallas from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, utilizing the new Air Force One that was gifted to him by Qatari officials. But the pooled journalists in the vicinity noticed something strange: The plane’s emergency slide appeared to have been deployed while the president was still aboard Marine One behind schedule.
The cause of the delay was later revealed: The New York Times reported the slide was accidentally deployed by a military aide aboard the aircraft. However, while addressing reporters, Trump suggested it was all a part of a planned security check:
Trump on Qatari Plane: They’re checking the slide. I think it’s going to take about 15 minutes. pic.twitter.com/A6l43XMM3J
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 9, 2026
They showed off a Hasan Piker thirst trap
For months, Republicans have sought to make Hasan Piker the main character in the midterm elections, highlighting the popular Twitch streamer’s controversial remarks in an attempt to link him to Democratic candidates. Piker was referenced a lot on Wednesday, but in no weirder way than when the convention played an anti-socialism video on the big screen that featured a photo of the streamer in his underwear. Piker soon responded to a screencap circulating online:
they're trying to make blexas happen! https://t.co/rEwgtTnf7X
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 9, 2026
“I’m on the ballot!”
This was pretty much exactly what every Democratic candidate in the country hoped he would say:
Trump: I’m on the ballot. pic.twitter.com/pXFdkjA2Lm
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026
It was also the best Leonardo DiCaprio impression ever delivered at an off-year Republican convention.
Trump said another thing all Democrats wanted to hear:
Trump on swing races: “We can win every one of those races, but I'm going to go to every one of those states. For congressmen and for senators. I'm gonna do that. And we're going to have rallies.” pic.twitter.com/TbaZrXSCvj
— Bulwark Clips (@BulwarkClips) September 10, 2026
Trump accurately predicted the future
He said GOP candidates would be desperate to avoid him:
Trump: I’ll come once or twice or three—I’ll come pic.twitter.com/Hak4VU7f99
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026
Fetterman awkwardly made a surprising cameo
John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lone Democratic senator, did very little to assuage fears he is mulling a party switch when he made a surprise appearance at the convention Wednesday night in a prerecorded video introducing his close friend and Republican colleague Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.
In the minute-long clip, Fetterman acknowledged the unusual nature of a Democrat appearing at a Republican political convention, calling himself a “common-sense Democrat” who will always reject extremes from the left, including “socialism,” and promising to work with McCormick and Trump on issues concerning Pennsylvania, such as reviving the steel industry. The White House’s official social-media accounts shared the clip:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 9, 2026
After the video was played, Fetterman issued a statement insisting once again that he has no plans to switch teams. “I’m a lifelong Democrat who votes overwhelmingly with my party — and should the Senate flip in November, I will still be the 51st vote that I ran on,” Fetterman wrote.
Ken Paxton had a no-good, terrible night
First off, the organizers buried the characteristically uncharismatic Paxton’s speech long before prime time, despite the fact that the Republican convention was held in Texas, where he is the most important Republican candidate on the midterms ballot. Paxton effectively made his case for why he belonged in that time slot:
Paxton: He’s obsessed with transitions. He wants to transition your kids. He wants to transition Texas off of oil and gas. How about we transition him out of Texas? pic.twitter.com/ATeOQiZs3U
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 9, 2026
Then, in prime time, Trump repeated his joke that nobody wants to look at Ken Paxton:
Trump on Ken Paxton: "I have to say this about Ken, it's so insulting and I hope he doesn't get insulted…Some may not like the way he dresses. I don't…They may not like the way he talks. I can see that." pic.twitter.com/5KT3svDM1Z
— Bulwark Clips (@BulwarkClips) September 10, 2026
Tim Scott went full Guilfoyle
During the 2020 RNC, former Fox News anchor Kimberly Guilfoyle’s remarks went instantly viral owing to her unsettling and surprisingly high-volume delivery. On Wednesday night, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina appeared to take a page from her playbook and ended his speech sounding more like a WWE star than the NRSC chair, urging the crowd to stand with Trump while excoriating Democrats.
“They hate our culture. They hate what it means to be American,” Scott screamed:
Tim Scott nearly concludes his speech by screaming a bunch of weird shit pic.twitter.com/zQu10FHSnE
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 9, 2026
Tom Emmer calmly explained his policy differences with Democrats, too
Emmer: This is an election between America loving patriots and extremists—between freedom and tyranny. THESE PEOPLE ARE SICK! pic.twitter.com/vDX5VCLYiu
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 9, 2026
Trump offered Americans $5,000 per vote
The highlight of Trump’s Wednesday remarks was a surprising, unlikely, and potentially legally dubious proposal in which he promised to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate following the midterm elections in November.
.@POTUS announces the TRUMP DIVIDEND: If Republicans win both the House and the Senate, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States for $5,000 pic.twitter.com/s4orJJGx9d
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 10, 2026
Questions quickly rose as experts calculated that such a promise would amount to around $1.2 trillion in funds being distributed, a staggering figure that would likely only add to the nation’s rising rate of inflation — a tough argument for Republicans in Congress who would have to sign off on any distribution of funds.
During an appearance on Fox News following Trump’s speech, Vice-President J.D. Vance tried to defend the president’s proposal to skeptical Fox News anchors who suggested critics could say the promised payments could amount to a bribe:
Baier: $5000 for every adult citizen, that's about $1.3 trillion. The critics will say the president is bribing voters and he's bankrupting the country.
Vance: Tariffs have generated a lot of revenues. The president is saying, if you keep us in power, then you will share in… pic.twitter.com/BrIpPuzeuh
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026
And he joked about masturbation
We wish we were kidding.
Trump: Beat meat? I don’t know what the hell that means. He wants to beat meat. He started eating meat. I’m getting myself in trouble. He was recently seen eating a lot of meat. pic.twitter.com/E8KMinjRFL
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026
“The Iran War will be over shortly after the election”
Trump offered yet another dubious war timeline, despite new reporting that his advisers are now worried the conflict still won’t be resolved by the time Trump leaves office:
Trump: The war will be over very shortly after the election. They're hanging out for dear life, hoping that we lose so they can deal with dumb weak Democrats and they can have their nuclear bomb. So they're going to be quitting or dropping out or who knows what the hell, whatever… pic.twitter.com/bffjDG9bB4
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026
Scott Bessent said Trump refuses to go to bed
The Treasury secretary offered a wake-up call:
Bessent: "We've gone from a president who couldn't stay awake to a president who refuses to sleep" 🙃 pic.twitter.com/AcuYtvsnDl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 10, 2026
The Republican Senate majority leader got booed at the Republican convention
Convention attendees were given “KEEP THE MAJORITY” signs to wave around, but they clearly weren’t interested in keeping the majority leader (unless they were actually saying “Thuuuuuuuuuune”):
Trump: "John Thune is here."
Crowd: *boos*
Trump: "No, no — John is working hard." pic.twitter.com/92656LeNhD
— Bulwark Clips (@BulwarkClips) September 10, 2026
Even Trump was baffled by the Luka trade
During Trump’s speech, he briefly turned to basketball, saying he hopes the Dallas Mavericks — whose home arena he was speaking from — will be good this year. But, like many in Dallas, the president still appeared bewildered by the Mavericks’ stunning 2025 trade of their franchise player Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for NBA champion center Anthony Davis.
Trump quipped that the move, which likely resulted in the eventual firing of general manager and president of basketball operations Nico Harrison, could go down as the “worst trade in the history of sports” and suggested that maybe it could be redone.
“Maybe we can redo that trade,” Trump said. “I redo deals all the time.”
Trump got dumb (without the b)
Trump goes on a "Dumocrats" tangent for two minutes after his team told him not to: pic.twitter.com/ZkmX5XKF4T
— Bulwark Clips (@BulwarkClips) September 10, 2026
And yes, he’s still thinking about renaming stuff
During his remarks, Trump once again floated renaming the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that has been under siege and subject to attacks amid the U.S’s war in Iran.
The president brought his Truth Social musing from earlier in the month to the convention stage, suggesting the strait should be renamed the “Trump Strait” once the conflict is settled.
Trump: I think we should call the Hormuz Strait, we should call it the Trump Strait. I should get something out of this. pic.twitter.com/6GvxDyMxOU
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026