EXCLUSIVE: Inside Vance’s intimate Capitol Hill huddle as Republicans confront tough midterm terrain

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President JD Vance energized Republicans during a huddle on Capitol Hill Tuesday where he urged lawmakers to “kick a–” in the 49 days before the midterm elections, according to audio obtained by Fox News Digital from a person in the room.

He wants members of Congress who are on the campaign trail to tell Americans how Trump administration’s policies benefit them daily.

“There’s people out there right now whose lives are going to get better, or their lives are going to get worse based on whether we’re in the majority or whether we’re in the minority,” Vance told the Republican lawmakers in spelling out the stakes of the 2026 midterms.

“There are going to be people who are going to be poorer. Who are going to be less able to afford their prescription drugs, who are going to be less safe in the homes in their neighborhoods if the other guys get the majority,” he continued. “And there are people who are going to be able to walk down the street in safety if you guys keep the majority. If we keep the majority together.”

Specifically, Vance told incumbents to hammer home the issue of crime, noting that the homicide rate has reached a 126-year low. Vance explained that in a country of 330 million people, that crime stat translates to “thousands of people,” including mothers and fathers, who are coming home to their families instead of being victims of deadly crimes.

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“There are tens of thousands of children who will come home tonight and work on their homework with mom or dad, rather than a stranger, because of what we’ve been able to do in supporting law enforcement,” Vance said in the closed-door meeting.

“This is not an abstraction, ladies and gentlemen,” the vice president continued. “This is not about what you see on CNN or Fox News. This is not whether someone with an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ next to their name wins. This is about whether the American people in this country that we love have a government that they deserve, that protects them, that fights for them, or whether they have a government that treats them as a means to end.”

Fox News Digital caught up with some lawmakers after the meeting.

One House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly told Fox News Digital the meeting was  “a pep rally for the midterms. It was about raising money, showing up, making sure that everybody’s all hands on deck going into November.”

“I think he did a great job,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R- Tenn., assessed. “He’s very good. He’s very personable.”

“He’s got some kind of voodoo thing going on where he remembers everybody’s dadgum name,” Burchett told Fox News Digital. “It kind of freaks me out a little bit. But, I mean, every time I’ve run into him — I remember one time I was waiting in line to go to the bathroom and he walked out of the bathroom. ‘Hey, Tim, what’s going on?’ I invited him to a [University of Tennessee] game.”

Vance offered some campaign tips to the lawmakers while ribbing the political consulting class for sometimes being out of touch, and saying “the American people are not dumb.”

He said voters understand President Donald Trump and his administration inherited problems, including inflation, massive debt and “a country that was weaker on the national stage.”

“They know that Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he said.

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The vice president directed members to “pound the pavement” in their home districts to personally connect with as many voters as possible.

Just as importantly, Vance said, Republicans in safe districts who have no real opposition from the left should contribute money to the campaigns of fellow Republicans who are in competitive districts.

“So here’s the thing, this is not rocket science. You guys know this better than I do, you know your districts better than I do,” Vance said . “We know that most voters, particularly the voters who are open-minded, who are not hardcore partisans, they don’t really start paying attention to the election until right about now.”

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Vance also spoke fondly of when late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joined him in Ohio while he was campaigning for the Senate in 2022.

“I’ll never forget this,” said Vance. ” Lindsey Graham comes out — I didn’t know Lindsey Graham at all, and you guys know how the campaign trail is in the final stretches. You wake up in a crappy hotel, you haven’t seen your wife, your kids in a few days, and it’s a lot more fun when you have some company out there.”

“You’re telling jokes, you’re enjoying it. That energy — people pick up on it. So, get out there and campaign with your friends.”

Vance recalled how Graham told him stories that had him “aching with laughter,” half of which he said he could not repeat.

One source told Fox News Digital that Vance stayed after his remarks in tacit encouragement for House Republicans to pledge more money to their campaign arm, which several did. One person said Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, for example, pledged $1.1 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters afterward that the meeting raised $20 million toward Republicans’ re-election efforts.

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