The Republican Party did not exactly walk into its first-ever midterm convention quietly.
It came roaring in.
Country music legend Lee Greenwood told Newsmax on Thursday that the atmosphere inside the Republican National Committee’s convention in Dallas was “electric,” describing a crowd energized by President Donald Trump and the America First agenda heading into the November elections.
“It’s electric,” Greenwood said on Bianca Across the Nation. “There’s so many people who love the president, love what we’re doing.”
Greenwood knows what a Trump rally feels like. His signature anthem, “God Bless the U.S.A.,” has become a familiar soundtrack at Trump political events, and he performed the song Wednesday night before introducing Trump at the American Airlines Center.
The scene, Greenwood said, felt less like a traditional political gathering and more like what Americans have come to expect from Trump: a rally.
“It did feel a lot like a rally,” he said. “The president was great, and it was great being there and able to introduce him, like we’ve done quite a few times in the past.”
That distinction matters.
Unlike a presidential convention, there was no Republican presidential nominee to select and no nomination fight to settle. The Sept. 9-10 gathering was designed to showcase Republican candidates, highlight the Trump administration’s record and, perhaps most importantly, remind Republican voters that the midterms are a chance to keep the America First agenda moving.
For Greenwood, this was hardly his first Republican convention in Dallas.
He performed at the 1984 Republican National Convention, where Ronald Reagan accepted the GOP nomination for a second term. More than four decades later, he found himself back in Dallas, this time introducing Trump as Republicans prepare for another consequential election.
Asked what message he would give voters, Greenwood offered a straightforward answer: Americans should “believe in what we do as a democracy.”
He also voiced his support for Trump and emphasized the responsibility Americans have to protect the nation’s institutions.
But the conversation carried another, deeply American theme: September 11.
With the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaching, Greenwood reflected on his performance during Game 4 of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium, just weeks after the attacks.
He recalled wearing a red, white and blue jacket that night to send a message to the world that “America was not on its knees.”
That image remains powerful.
A nation had been attacked. Thousands had been murdered. Yet America stood.
On Friday, Greenwood is scheduled to return to Yankee Stadium as the Yankees commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11 before their game against the New York Mets. First responders, military personnel and family members of 9/11 victims are expected to take part in the ceremony.
From Reagan to Trump, from Yankee Stadium to Dallas, Greenwood’s career has repeatedly intersected with moments when American patriotism was more than a slogan.
And that may be the real story behind the “electric” atmosphere he described.
Republicans are heading into the midterms with Trump at the center of the party, a movement that remains energized by the promise of putting American interests first. For Greenwood, the soundtrack is familiar: God bless the U.S.A.—and never forget that America is not on its knees.
