Vice President JD Vance urged voters to stick with the Republican party even if they disagree with the Trump administration on some issues — a call to look beyond tensions with the MAGA movement and frustration over the war in Iran.

Vance, 42, took the stage in Dallas Thursday at the Republican midterm convention, an event that President Donald Trump hopes will boost Republican fortunes in midterm elections this November when the party risks losing its majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

While Trump’s speech a night before amounted to something of a celebration, Vance nodded to economic unease while also branding Democrats as “crazies” who have to be stopped.

“I know there are a lot of people who are watching on TV who aren’t always sold, and I want to speak directly to them,” he said. “Look, I’m not asking anybody to agree with me on every single policy of the administration. What I am asking you to do is recognize the contrast with the radicals and recognize the achievements of the last 18 months.”

The speech represented a balancing act for Vance as he continues to lay the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid as the apparent frontrunner and heir to Trump’s MAGA movement, even though the president has stopped short of anointing him as his chosen successor.

Vance is a longtime opponent of foreign wars, yet faces the prospect of running for president under the shadow of the continuing conflict with Iran. The war has stretched more than six months and shows no signs of ending. It’s sent gasoline prices soaring and Republican polls slumping.

Vance used the speech to mark the one-year anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist and organizer Charlie Kirk, invoking his opposition to conflict. Before his death, Kirk repeatedly spoke out against the possibility of a war to overthrow Iran’s regime.

“Charlie hated war,” he said. “Now of course, there are people who love what we’ve done, people who don’t. I’m not here to litigate the disagreements between Charlie and some of the people that he disagreed with. What I’m asking you to do is do what Charlie did: do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Vance’s speech also struck a populist tone He emphasized a push to curb the powers of corporations to buy housing, a nod to affordability concerns that are a major headwind to Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.

The Vances recently welcomed their fourth child, and Vance spoke at length about his family and desire for his kids to one day buy a house.

“I want them to know the pride of saving up for something, of buying something big and real that they’re proud of, without being outbid by Wall Street tycoons,” he said.

The remark nodded to housing costs, a core frustration of voters, at a time when U.S. borrowing costs have spiked, taking mortgage rates up with them. Inflation data due out Friday will also be another measure of whether the Federal Reserve will hike rates to help cool inflation — even as Trump has repeatedly called for a cut.

And while Vance encouraged people to vote, he stopped short of echoing Trump’s pledge to issue $5,000 checks to U.S. adults if Republicans hold both houses of Congress. Vance defended the $1.2 trillion plan on television a night earlier, and Trump promptly repeated the pledge when he took the stage again after the vice president concluded his remarks.

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(With assistance from Jeff Mason and Catherine Lucey.)

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