RNC chair predicts first-ever midterm convention will turn Dallas into ‘Trumpapalooza’ for 2026 fight

By Fox News · Fox News

EXCLUSIVE - Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters predicted Wednesday that Republicans will "knock it out of the park" at the party’s first-ever midterm convention, casting the Dallas gathering as a "Trumpapalooza" aimed at firing up GOP voters in a difficult midterm climate. Gruters spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital a day after President Donald Trump announced the Sept. 9-10 convention in Dallas, an unusual effort to put Trump and the GOP’s 2026 message center stage before voters decide control of Congress. "It gives us a chance to highlight all the wonderful things this president has done in our effort on this great American comeback to highlight the ideas, policies and people that's making it happen," Gruters said. TRUMP MAKES MAJOR 2026 ANNOUNCEMENT National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate their party's presidential candidates, normally take place during presidential election years. But with Republicans facing a rough political climate as they aim to protect their narrow control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in this year's elections, they see the midterm convention as an effective vehicle to get their message out. "We can win. It's going to start here at the convention. I'm super excited about it," Gruters emphasized. And pointing to primary victories in recent weeks by far-left and socialist candidates over the Democratic Party establishment, Gruters said "we're going to be able to highlight and contrast where the Republican Party is versus what the left is, and the fact that they're getting pushed and now controlled and being run by these radical leftists that want to fundamentally change our country." SOCIALIST SURGE: DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN AGAIN, THIS TIME IN COLORADO Party leaders are also hoping the convention will help to energize MAGA voters who don't always vote when Trump isn't on the ballot. Gruters called Trump the "best showman that's ever existed in po…