The Daily Show has exposed the wonky math behind Donald Trump’s bonkers promise.
At Wednesday’s Republican midterm convention in Dallas, the 80-year-old president promised to give $5,000 to every adult in the U.S. if Republicans manage to maintain their position in November’s midterms.
“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them... 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,” Trump said.
“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” the president said. “Congratulations.”
The Daily Show’s Michael Kosta and Desi Lydic dedicated Thursday night’s episode to unpacking the president’s wild promise, or what Kosta described as his “secret weapon.”
According to Lydic, “Bribes are Trump’s love language. It’s his way of showing us that he cares.”
Kosta pointed out that Trump’s lofty payout “would cost America $1.3 trillion.”
“Oh, of course he’s not going to do it. And you know what that means? It means Donald Trump just saved us $1.3 trillion!” responded Lydic. The award-winning host posited that this is “Trump math, which is his version of girl math.”
“With Trump math, he puts a $30 billion tariff on China, then cancels it at the last minute. And that gets America $30 billion in new dollars,” she explained. “That’s money we can spend on desperately needed health care, or even better, an arch. We’ve always wanted an arch!”
The two hosts continued their facetious interpretation of what the president wants to spend his money on. Instead of universal childcare, they said, “the kids can hang out under the arch”—another vanity project that will reportedly cost hundreds of millions.
But the anchors illustrated the painful reality of Trump’s latest gimmick. “It’s a desperate ploy by a desperate president who’s out of solutions and just throwing $5,000 against the wall,” said Lydic.
“This is just the latest in a cycle of Trump’s behavior with the American people,” said Kosta. “He promises a huge payout that never happens. And then he promises an even bigger payout, and then that never happens.”
“And this spiral is exhausting, poisonous, and it makes you question the very health of our democracy,” he added.
