President Trump closed out the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday night by having the crowd inside American Airlines Center raise their right hands and pledge to vote on Nov. 3 — telling them, in a line that quickly went viral, to "cheat like hell," which he framed as matching what he claims Democrats already do.

The pledge capped a two-day event covered by The Washington Post and broadcast in part by PBS NewsHour, which aired footage of Trump leading the crowd through the vow.

A Bribe, or a "Dividend"?

Trump also repeated a promise made earlier this year: $5,000 checks for "all American adults" — but this time explicitly conditioned on Republicans retaining control of both chambers of Congress in November, framing the payout as a midterm "dividend" rather than a universal benefit.

The conditional pitch drew immediate blowback. Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat, said in a statement reported by NPR: "So now it's $5,000 bribes that Trump will never deliver to attempt to make voters forget what they are paying for gas and food. What ever happened to those promised DOGE checks? Americans are not fools, we know he lies daily."

"CHEAT LIKE HELL."

NPR's coverage also noted stretches of empty seats inside the arena even as Trump and Vice President Vance pitched the dividend plan to the party faithful over the two-day gathering.

The remarks land as both parties gear up for a midterm cycle already shadowed by fights over ballot security and election administration nationwide, adding fresh fuel to arguments from Trump's critics that his rhetoric undermines confidence in the vote count even as he frames it as a joke about the other side.

What's Next

Neither the White House nor the Republican National Committee has detailed how — or whether — the $5,000 payments would actually be funded or distributed if Republicans hold Congress. Democrats are expected to keep highlighting the remarks as the midterm campaign intensifies over the coming weeks.