Vice President JD Vance was interrupted by a protester waving a Mexican flag during his keynote address at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday night.
“Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” Vance responded.
The protester was also holding a Palestinian flag, according to media reports.
The interruption came as Vance was discussing birthright citizenship, which President Donald Trump has sought to restrict. Vance argued that the Republican Party was fighting to preserve opportunities for future generations.
After returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that would limit birthright citizenship to children with at least one parent who is a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the order was unconstitutional, but Trump later issued new executive orders on the matter.
During the first two years of Trump’s second term, he and Vance have pursued their party’s pledge of mass deportations of undocumented migrants, drawing nationwide protests from immigrant advocacy groups and members of the public.
After pausing his speech, Vance said the interruption had revealed “the symbol of the far left”: an “idiot” waving a Mexican flag “when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America”.
Vance praised the Trump administration’s immigration policy and, after the protester was escorted out, told the crowd that while the demonstrator waved a foreign flag, Republicans would continue “to wave the American flag and fight for the American dream”.
“We have to remind ourselves tonight that the good life that is the foundation of this country’s promise is not guaranteed,” he added. “We have to remember that a safe home, a good school, a happy family, a future that is better than the past, every generation of Americans has had to fight for these things when it’s our turn.”
