“Pretend that I am on the ballot,” Trump said to loud cheers during his keynote address Wednesday night. “I’m on the ballot.”
Empty seats, technical glitches, culture war nonsense, and a promise to give away 5K to everyone if Republicans retain Congress is what happened at Trump-a-Palooza’s opening night.
The Toe Tappers Go Wild!:
Buying Votes
“Because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000, very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution,” Trump promised, as long as Republicans retained control of both houses of Congress in November.
The Trump Dividend: Trump promises $5,000 ‘dividend’ for US voters if Republicans win midterms
Donald Trump vowed to issue a $5,000 “dividend” to every adult citizen in the US if Republicans retained control of Congress in the midterm elections, as he sought to rescue his party’s prospects with a big dose of populist economics.
Trump’s promise to offer every adult American $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress would be enormously costly, probably exceeding $1 trillion.
Trump’s promise of $5,000 dividends to adult Americans if Republicans keep their trifecta is reminiscent of Elon Musk’s promise last year to hand out $1 million checks to voters in a race for Wisconsin’s top court. Musk retreated from that plan after facing a backlash and legal challenges.
Dangling the possibility of money if Republicans keep control of Congress, as Trump just did, is certain to raise some legal questions. Federal laws prohibit expenditures to influence voting, but Trump has framed his proposal as a promise that will be delivered upon later, as an economic incentive.
Spoiler Alert:
Quick McMath puts the bill for this proposed “dividend” at more than $1 trillion. Plus, it’s illegal to pay or be paid to influence voting.
Trump has floated similar proposals in the past that went unfulfilled.
Fact Checking:
“But trillions of dollars in tariff revenue have come in.”
False.
Mr. Trump’s tariffs have raised nearly $300 billion in revenue, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. But after the Supreme Court struck those tariffs down and the government began issuing refunds, the amount decreased to about $132.5 billion. That is nowhere near “trillions.”
“I’m giving you the largest prescription drug price cuts in history, with differences of 400 — 400, 500 and even 600 percent.”
False.
Reducing drug prices by 100 percent means that the product is free, so a reduction of 500 percent to 600 percent is mathematically impossible. The Consumer Price Index recorded a 3.1 percent decline in prescription drugs in July compared with a year ago and the Trump administration’s policies are not major drivers in that decline, experts have said.
Let Them Eat Cake:
What Other MAGAts are Saying:
The mood on the main stage was heavily positive, focusing on Trump’s first two years in office, as speakers said he has drastically reduced the flow of undocumented people through the southern border and touted his biggest legislative achievement, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which included removing taxes on tips and Social Security. Those policies have become mainstays in Republicans’ midterm messaging. Democrats have regularly pointed out that the bill disproportionately benefited wealthy Americans.