President Donald Trump urges Republicans at midterm convention to pledge to ‘cheat’ in upcoming elections: ‘There has never been bigger cheaters’

President Donald Trump had the crowd at the GOP midterm convention on its feet September 10 when he asked attendees to raise their right hands and pledge to vote in the upcoming election.

But that wasn’t the only thing Trump wanted Republicans to promise. He told them to “try and cheat like h*** like they do,” referring to Democrats.

He also told the crowd to bring their friends and family out to vote, warning that they’d “go to h***” if they didn’t.

Trump’s get-out-and-vote message 

After speaking for nearly two hours the night before, Trump swore he’d try to keep his remarks “brief.” 

On the second day of the convention, the president focused on getting Republicans to the polls for the midterms.

Trump also accused Democrats of wanting to “cheat” and warned that the party would “destroy everything we’ve built” if its candidates win. 

He then urged the crowd to make sure they turn out in November. “So on election day, November 3, you’ve got to do me a favor,” he said. 

“You’ve got to get out and vote and you’ve got to pretend I’m on the ballot because in a way I am on the ballot, because if they get in, they are going to take away all of the things that we’ve got, and we can’t let that happen.” 

Trump’s pledge

Trump brought up voter ID and proof of citizenship, accusing Democrats of opposing both.

“In many cases, look, they don’t want to give you voter ID. Why? Because they want to cheat,” he continued.

“They don’t want to give you proof of citizenship. Why? They say, ‘Well, it’s a very complicated process.’ They have more lines. We want voter ID. We want proof of citizenship. We want honesty in our elections. We want honesty in our country.”

He then asked the crowd to repeat a pledge promising to vote with their friends and loved ones.

“That I will go out with my family, my friends, I’ll do it any way, I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try and cheat like h*** like they do,” Trump said, leading the crowd through each line. “There has never been bigger cheaters.”

A warning to voters

Trump told the crowd they could vote for Democrats if they wanted, but said he didn’t think anyone there would.

“If you want, you can vote Democrat, but I don’t think there is one person in this room that’s gonna vote Democrat. I don’t think so. So I don’t want to waste the words vote Republican, just go out. If you vote, you’re voting Republican. OK. So help me God.” 

He then ended with a warning about what could happen if people didn’t turn out.

“You know what happens if you don’t vote right? You go to h***, you know that. You go to h***. And I don’t want that to happen to you so please go and vote!” the president said. 

$5,000 payment 

The pledge came a night after Trump promised $5,000 payments to every adult U.S. citizen if Republicans keep control of Congress.

“If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump told the crowd in Dallas. “It will be called the Trump dividend.”

The president said the country’s “tremendous economic success” made the proposal possible, adding that the U.S. “is making so much money.”

The proposed payments would require congressional approval and could cost more than $1 trillion. Trump didn’t provide details about how the plan would be funded or implemented.