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Sep 13, 2026· Updated

Trump Closes the Republican Midterm Convention by Having Thousands Raise Their Right Hands and Swear an Oath to Him — "I Pledge to the Greatest President in the History of the United States … I Don't Care if I'm Registered or Not, I'm Going to Try and Cheat Like Hell Like They Do"

Closing the first Republican midterm convention in modern history at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on the night of Sept. 10, 2026, President Trump asked the crowd to raise their right hands and repeat after him. What they repeated was not the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag but a pledge to Trump personally — "I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States. That loves us so much he can't even breathe" — followed by a vow to vote on Nov. 3 "any way — I don't care if I'm registered or not," and the line "I'm going to try to cheat like hell like they do." The crowd laughed, repeated it, and finished with "So help me God." Trump framed the cheating line as a jab at Democrats, whom he baselessly called the biggest cheaters in American elections. Earlier in the same passage he told the room, "You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell, you know that." Voting when not registered is a federal crime, and the pledge came a night after Trump promised every adult citizen a $5,000 "dividend" if Republicans hold the House and Senate — a promise Democrats had already called a bribe. California Gov. Gavin Newsom answered that Trump "just replaced the Pledge of Allegiance with a pledge of allegiance to himself." Congress was out of session for the 9/11 anniversary weekend, and as of Sept. 12 no Republican member of Congress had publicly defended or criticized the pledge on the record.

“I pledge my allegiance to my constituents, which I always have. … The truth is that the president and I don't always agree. And that's OK.”
Michael Lawler (R-NY) · Sep 13, 2026

Republican Midterm Convention

2026 Midterms

Election Integrity

4 statements

Sep 12, 2026· Updated

Jimmy Kimmel Keeps His Interview With Texas Senate Nominee James Talarico Off ABC and Puts It on YouTube Instead, Saying Trump's FCC "Has Threatened Me, Threatened Our Show, Threatened Our Network" — the FCC's Lone Democrat Calls It Proof the "Campaign of Censorship and Control" Is Working, and the White House Says Kimmel Is "Play-Acting"

On Wednesday night, Sept. 9, 2026, Jimmy Kimmel told his ABC audience that his interview with James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, would not air on television. "For the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I've been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all," Kimmel said. "Now that he's president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations." The conversation was posted to the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" YouTube channel on Thursday, Sept. 10, and drew more than two million views within half a day. The pressure Kimmel described is the equal-time rule. In January, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued guidance saying daytime and late-night talk shows may not be exempt from the requirement that broadcasters offer comparable airtime to every qualified candidate for an office — in this case Talarico's Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. YouTube does not use the public airwaves and is not covered by the rule. The Kimmel episode repeats what happened in February, when CBS kept Talarico's interview with Stephen Colbert off the air over the same concern, and comes three weeks after ABC and Disney sued the FCC alleging First Amendment retaliation. Talarico called the pressure "the most dangerous form of cancel culture" and told Kimmel his opponents are "worried that we're going to win this race in Texas." Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, said the decision "shows just how far this Administration's campaign of censorship and control has gone." The White House answered through assistant press secretary Davis Ingle that "Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate." Carr himself had not commented. Kimmel used the episode to invite Paxton on the show; Paxton's campaign said "no Texan wants to watch James Talarico and two of his fellow far-left activists posing as moderators."

“He's just running the same hoax he did a few months ago on Colbert for the purpose of getting clicks and donations. … He's banking on people not understanding the statute or operating as partisan lemmings.”
Brendan Carr (R) · Sep 12, 2026

The Justice Department Orders 29 States and D.C. to Keep Their 2024 Election Records — and Tells Two Chief Election Officers, One Republican and One Democrat, That They Are "Under Investigation" — Utah's Lieutenant Governor Says "I'm Not Going to Be Intimidated Into Compliance"

In letters dated Sept. 4, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division directed election officials in 29 states and the District of Columbia to impose a litigation hold and preserve their 2024 election records past the 22-month federal retention window, warning that a "failure to preserve relevant data may constitute spoliation of evidence" that could bring "civil and criminal sanctions." The recipients are the jurisdictions the administration has sued for unredacted statewide voter registration lists containing dates of birth, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — suits in which, the New York Times reported, the department has lost 23 cases and won none. The letters, signed by Eric Neff, acting chief of the Voting Section, also told at least two chief election officers that they were personally "under investigation": Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, and Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, whose office had already received seven voter-related subpoenas over three months. Both said the letters were the first they had heard of any investigation. Henderson's office has said a review of Utah's 2.1 million registered voters found 27 noncitizens, none of whom had ever voted. Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon answered that the letters are "standard litigation practice, not a 'threat.'" The Arizona and Minnesota secretaries of state said through spokespeople that they would comply, with Arizona's office calling any implication that it was not following the law "disrespectful." The letters arrived eight weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms.

“I'm not going to be intimidated into compliance with something I don't believe is right.”
Deidre Henderson (R-UT) · Sep 11, 2026

Three Days Before the 25th Anniversary, Trump Tells a Room of 9/11 First Responders That Two Firemen "Literally Lifted Me Up" and Carried Him From a Creaking Building Near Ground Zero — a Veteran of the Wars That Followed Answers That "This Solemn Day Is Not About Trump"

At a Sept. 8, 2026 ceremony on the White House Ellipse honoring 9/11 emergency responders, President Trump described his own role in the aftermath of the attacks. He said he had sent a construction crew to the site — "I was building a big building in New York, and I took the whole crew down there right after this happened" — and that when the U.S. Steel Building, now One Liberty Plaza, began to give way, two firefighters carried him out: "They grab me under the arms. They literally lifted me up … They lifted me up and they started running with me." Fact-checkers at CNN, PolitiFact, PBS, Snopes and Newsweek could find no evidence for either claim. Trump was four miles uptown at Trump Tower on the morning of the attacks — he phoned WWOR-TV that day and said "I have a window that looks directly at the World Trade Center" — and no firefighter has ever come forward to corroborate the rescue. CNN's Daniel Dale wrote that when he asked the White House for evidence, "the White House provided none." John Feal, who supervised demolition at Ground Zero beginning Sept. 12, 2001 and later founded the FealGood Foundation, told Snopes he saw no sign of hundreds of Trump-hired workers at the site. The reaction split along familiar lines but with an unusual wrinkle: Trump skipped the New York commemoration entirely — reportedly because the ceremony does not let politicians speak — and Vice President JD Vance represented the administration at Ground Zero, where all four living former presidents appeared together. Sen. Ted Cruz defended the account on CNN, saying "the man is a New Yorker, he loves New York." Rep. Jason Crow, an Army veteran of the wars that followed the attacks, called Trump "a small and sick man." The White House answered the fact-checks by attacking the press, and Trump himself posted a defense on Truth Social conceding he was there "obviously not on the same day as the collapse."

“Our president is a small and sick man to make a day of remembrance and service about himself. This solemn day is not about Trump. It never was, and it never will be.”
Jason Crow (D-CO) · Sep 11, 2026

Four Seconds of a Ground Zero Live Feed Become the Fight of the 25th Anniversary — Ted Cruz Asks "How the Hell Do You Laugh," Randy Fine Says AOC and "Jihadi Mamdani" Should Not Be "Anywhere Near That Hallowed Ground," and a Lifelong Republican Who Was Standing Next to Them Says the Camera "Just Caught Her Greeting Him Hello"

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the live television feed from the Ground Zero name-reading cut from a young man sobbing to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared to smile and laugh as they spoke. The clip ran four seconds and carried no audio of what they said. Within hours Sen. Ted Cruz had reposted it, and Reps. Randy Fine, Wesley Hunt and Nancy Mace, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov had all put out statements. Fine called the mayor "Jihadi Mamdani." Mace suggested the two should leave public service. The account did not hold up. Michael Ragusa, a lifelong Republican and a former security chief for Rudy Giuliani who was standing beside the pair, said the reports were "not true" and that the camera "just caught her greeting him hello," adding that politicians of both parties behind him had been talking and laughing. Former Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou said Mamdani stayed for every name and spoke with families for 45 minutes afterward. Mamdani's office said: "He came over and we both extended our hands and exchanged pleasantries." The same day, and largely from the same outlets, Trump drew his own criticism: at the Pentagon ceremony he attended instead of Ground Zero, the 80-year-old president repeatedly closed his eyes for long stretches as Hegseth spoke and as the names were read. The White House said anyone claiming he was asleep "is lying."

“How the hell do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud? Why would you do so?”
Ted Cruz (R-TX) · Sep 11, 2026

9/11

september-11-anniversary

ground-zero

10 statements

Sep 11, 2026

Two Weeks Before Xi Comes to Washington, Trump Calls a Senator's Warning About Chinese Cars "a Total Phony Rumor" — Then Says in the Same Interview That "If China Wanted to Come In and Open a Plant to Build Their Cars Here, I'd Be OK With That"

On September 9, 2026, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) posted that she was hearing "rumors that Trump is planning to allow Chinese cars to be sold in the U.S., as part of a larger deal he's putting together," calling it "a strategic mistake." She cited no source and paired the warning with a push for the Connected Vehicle Security Act, her bipartisan bill with Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) that would bar Chinese-linked connected vehicles, software and hardware from the U.S. market. A House version is led by Reps. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chairman of the Select Committee on China, and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and the Senate Commerce Committee passed the bill in July. Asked about it on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" on September 11, President Trump said "I hate this rumor. It's a total phony rumor," pointing to his tariffs on Chinese cars. But in the same interview he said "If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I'd be OK with that," comparing it to Japanese automakers: "The big thing is they hire our people." He said he did not want Chinese companies building cars in Mexico and shipping them north. The remarks came as Trump prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in the United States, a meeting expected around September 24, and a week after the Alliance for Automotive Innovation — representing Ford, GM, Toyota, Stellantis, Honda and nearly every other major automaker — asked Congress to pass a permanent ban on Chinese vehicles by the end of December. A Biden-era Commerce Department rule already effectively bars Chinese automakers from selling or building connected passenger vehicles in the U.S.

“I hate this rumor. It's a total phony rumor. I'm the one that has a 150 percent tariff on any car from China. … If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I'd be OK with that. … Japan does it, but they hire our people. The big thing is they hire our people.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 11, 2026

Ted Cruz Tells the Republican Midterm Convention America Faces a "Red-Green Alliance" and That Islam "Produces Murder and Oppression" — and as He Names Mamdani, El-Sayed and Talarico From the Stage, Someone in the Dallas Crowd Shouts "He Should Be Shot"

On the final night of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Sept. 10, 2026, Sen. Ted Cruz built a speech around what he called "a new and dangerous red-green alliance. Communists and Islamists coming together." He said "Sharia law has no place in America. Sharia law is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution, and we need to stand together and stop it now," and said Islam "produces murder and oppression." He named three Democratic candidates from the stage: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Texas Senate nominee James Talarico. As he did, a voice in the American Airlines Center crowd shouted "He should be shot." Cruz's charge against El-Sayed traces to a 2009 New York Times interview in which El-Sayed, then a medical student, described an "obligation" to comply with Sharia in financing his first home — a reference to an Islamic prohibition on interest, not to civil law. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott followed with a pledge to "fully ban Sharia law" in Texas, a law that has no legal force in the United States. Vice President JD Vance, delivering the keynote, said the Democratic Party would attack him for so much as questioning Sharia. El-Sayed responded the next night on CNN that the shout was now unremarkable: "This is what has become the norm in our politics." Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan said threats of political violence "have no place in our democracy," and the Council on American-Islamic Relations said leaders have "a responsibility to forcefully reject incitement to violence, racism, and bigotry."

“Political violence is a big problem. Rather than egging on, real leaders call it out.”
Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI) · Sep 11, 2026

Republican Midterm Convention

2026 Midterms

Political Violence

8 statements

Sep 11, 2026· Updated

Eleven Days After the Interior Secretary Tells the Smithsonian That Federal Agencies "Cannot in Good Conscience Continue to Support" It "Under Current Leadership," Its First Black Secretary Announces He Is Retiring — Lonnie Bunch Says "It Has Been Stressful," Padilla Says He "Spoke Truth to Power," and the Republican Regent Looks Forward to a Successor Who Will "Preserve America's History"

On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Lonnie G. Bunch III announced that he will retire as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by the end of the year. Bunch, 73, has spent 38 years at the Smithsonian, was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and in 2019 became the first African American and the first historian to hold the institution's top job. "It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement," he said in the Smithsonian's release. Chief Justice John Roberts, who chairs the Board of Regents as the Smithsonian's chancellor, said Bunch "has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation's story" and that the Regents would work with him "to ensure a smooth transition for his successor." The announcement lands after eighteen months of escalating pressure from the Trump administration. A March 2025 executive order directed Vice President JD Vance, himself a Regent, to remove "improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology" from the Smithsonian's museums. In August 2025 the president posted that the institution was "OUT OF CONTROL." On July 4, 2026, the White House Domestic Policy Council issued a 162-page report on the National Museum of American History concluding that the museum "under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America's story honestly," and three weeks later the president ordered "warning signs" posted on the sidewalks outside it. Then on August 28, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley wrote to the Regents that executive departments and agencies "cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership by, for example, loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants," alleged that the institution's culture "may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law," and asked for an in-person meeting with the board. Bunch told The New York Times that the fights with the administration were not the reason — "now's the time" — but conceded that "it has been stressful. And at a certain point, I'd like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone." He told The Washington Post he had been weighing retirement for about a year. The White House did not immediately comment, and House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, whose committee oversees the Smithsonian, issued no statement. Democrats did: Sen. Alex Padilla said Bunch "spoke truth to power" in the face of the president's attacks and that "the job now falls to the Board of Regents and Congress" to protect his work; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Regent, called him "a student of history who has devoted his life to telling America's full history"; Rep. Chellie Pingree, the top Democrat on the appropriations panel that funds the Smithsonian, said he had steered the institution "through a period of unprecedented political interference"; and Rep. Terri Sewell praised "his commitment to telling the full, honest story of our nation." The one Republican Regent to comment, Rep. Carlos Giménez, said he looked forward to a search for "a new Secretary who will preserve America's history and master the art of storytelling for generations to come." The Regents — the Chief Justice, the Vice President, three senators, three representatives and nine citizen members — will choose Bunch's successor.

“So, I'm asking for the Smithsonian to install the 11-foot Washington statue that was featured at the recent Freedom 250 Grand Prix Race in the Museum's Flag Hall, and dedicate it this Constitution Day, September 17, 2026. Immediately design and display a five-year exhibition worthy of the Life, Sacrifice, and Contributions of George Washington. Then, as soon as it is ready, install a 30-foot Washington Colossus where "Infinity" stands today. Replace a sculpture that says nothing about America with the man who, more than anyone else, says everything about America.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 11, 2026

Twenty Months After the Midair Collision That Killed 67 People, Virginia's Senators Move to Cut Flights at Reagan National — the DCA Air Safety Act Would Cap Arrivals at 28 an Hour and Strip 30 Slots, Most of Them the Long-Haul Exemptions Congress Added

On September 10, 2026, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) unveiled the DCA Air Safety Act, which they said they would formally introduce the following week, to reduce air traffic at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The bill comes roughly twenty months after the January 29, 2025 midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet on approach to DCA killed 67 people — a crash whose National Transportation Safety Board investigation, the senators said, "underscored the serious risks posed by unsustainable traffic levels at the airport." The legislation would cap arrivals at 28 aircraft per 60-minute period — down from the FAA's current rate of up to 48 an hour on DCA's single main runway, the busiest in the country — and require the FAA to reduce clustering of flights within 30-minute windows within 180 days. It would eliminate 30 daily slots over five years, with the FAA withdrawing six authorizations a year from 2028 through 2032; at least 26 of those would come from the "beyond-perimeter" exemptions that let flights exceed DCA's usual 1,250-mile limit, which Congress has repeatedly expanded over the objections of the Virginia and Maryland delegations. Slot eliminations would require a public process with a 60-day comment period, and the bill would set up a commission including the FAA, the Pentagon, the governors of Virginia and Maryland and the D.C. mayor's office. "We owe it to the victims of the fatal mid-air collision near DCA and their loved ones to take action and prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again," Warner said. Kaine said "Congress must do more to ensure that the highest level of safety regulations is in place to prevent future tragedies." The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said only that it "will monitor the progress of the proposed legislation." American Airlines, DCA's dominant carrier, faces the largest schedule disruption and Alaska Airlines the largest proportional exposure. Senate Commerce Committee leaders, who wrote the most recent perimeter expansions into the 2024 FAA reauthorization, had not publicly responded as of September 11.

“We owe it to the victims of the fatal mid-air collision near DCA and their loved ones to take action and prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again. DCA's overburdened runway is the busiest in the country, and the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) investigation of the January 2025 crash underscored the serious risks posed by unsustainable traffic levels at the airport.”
Mark Warner (D-VA) · Sep 10, 2026

A Sitting Democratic Senator Turns Up on the Screen at the Republican Midterm Convention — John Fetterman Introduces Dave McCormick, Says He Will "Work With President Trump," and Rejects "the Extremes and Socialism," While Three Pennsylvania Democrats Call Him Lazy and a "Benedict Arnold"

On the first night of the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas — September 9, 2026 — a one-minute video played on the arena screens in which Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), filmed standing in front of a steel mill, introduced his Pennsylvania colleague Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) as "a great American and friend." Fetterman said he would "work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life," and rebuked his own party's left flank: "I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life." McCormick took the stage to ask the crowd, "How great is John Fetterman?" No sitting senator of the opposing party had appeared in a party convention program in modern memory, and the video immediately fueled speculation that Fetterman might switch parties. Fetterman issued a statement the next morning insisting he would not: "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." Pennsylvania Democrats did not take it well. Rep. Chris Deluzio needled him for phoning it in, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta called him "Benedict Arnold, but lazy," and Rep. Brendan Boyle said the video proved a label he had applied a year earlier.

“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.”
John Fetterman (D-PA) · Sep 10, 2026

Sep 10, 2026· Updated

Trump Convenes the First Midterm Convention in Modern History and at Least 45 House Republicans Say They Are Not Coming — the Ticket Is $25,000, the Nickname Is "Trumpapalooza," and the Vice President's Answer Is "We Don't Need a Congressman in a Tight Race to Be There"

The Republican National Committee has scheduled a two-day midterm convention in Dallas for September 9 and 10, 2026 — an event with no real precedent in modern American politics, informally called "Trumpapalooza" inside the party. In the first days of September, Politico surveyed more than 70 House Republicans and at least 45 said they would not attend; NOTUS separately found swing-state members skipping it. Dozens more were undecided. The stated reasons vary: House members are being asked to contribute $25,000 apiece, and many said they had district events, fundraisers, or 25th-anniversary September 11 commemorations already on the calendar. The unstated one is the calendar itself — the convention lands eight weeks before a midterm in which the president's approval rating hit record lows in August, and members in competitive seats have to decide whether standing next to him on a Dallas stage helps. Speaker Mike Johnson said some members simply need to be in their districts. Vice President JD Vance told reporters the ticket does not need marginal members in the room. Sen. Mike Rounds, up for reelection in South Dakota, said he would be home talking to constituents. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who is going, said the party's record "is just not getting out." Rep. Tim Burchett said he had just gotten the bill.

“The Democrats are the party of hatred. They're the party that despises America and the people who built it. … I'm not asking anybody to agree with me on every single issue.”
JD Vance (R-OH) · Sep 10, 2026

The Endangered Species Act's Definition of "Harm" Dies the Same Day an Internal Memo Narrows the Law to Intentional Killing Only — 21 Attorneys General Sue, With Connecticut's William Tong Saying Trump Is "Sacrificing Entire Species for Short-Term Corporate and Political Gain"

Two things happened to the Endangered Species Act on September 14, 2026. A final rule rescinding the federal government's longstanding regulatory definition of "harm" — the definition that counted habitat destruction as harm to a protected species — took effect. And, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times and reported on September 17, Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik signed guidance reinterpreting the 1973 law so that only *intentional* harm to an individual animal or plant violates it. Accidental killings and injuries arising from economic activity would not. Together the two changes strip the Act of the mechanism environmental lawyers have relied on since the Supreme Court upheld the habitat reading in *Babbitt v. Sweet Home* (1995): the ability to treat destroying a species' home as harming the species. Five days before the rule took effect, on September 9, a coalition of 21 state attorneys general — co-led by Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell and Washington AG Nick Brown — filed two lawsuits in the Northern District of California against the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, seeking to block both the rescission of the "harm" definition and a companion rule stripping automatic protection from newly listed threatened species. Species named in the complaints include the piping plover, the shortnose sturgeon, the leatherback sea turtle and the Southern Resident killer whale, whose population has fallen from 98 whales in 1995 to 74 today. Separately, Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution that would repeal the rule, though it has no path to the floor before the midterms.

“Donald Trump is sacrificing entire species for short-term corporate and political gain. The consequences of these reckless and callous rollbacks cannot be fixed in the next election cycle.”
William Tong (D-CT) · Sep 9, 2026

environment

endangered-species-act

wildlife

5 statements

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