They say that money doesn’t buy happiness. Now, it’s also clear that money doesn’t buy Donald Trump voters, either.
Americans have resoundingly rejected the president’s pitch to send every citizen a $5,000 check if Republicans retain Congress, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Trump made the stunning pledge last week, during a speech at the Republican Party’s inaugural midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.
“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,” he said.
But the Reuters poll showed that 63 percent of Americans disapproved of billionaire Trump’s cash-for-voting scheme, including, notably, four out of ten Republicans surveyed. The poll was conducted over four days, and researchers gathered responses from 1,143 Americans.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed that 35 percent of those surveyed approved of the president, up from 33 percent in the previous poll. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Trump branded his vote scheme “Trump dividends,” attempting to compare the country to a successful company distributing payouts to shareholders: aka its citizens. The 80-year-old president claimed that the payout was possible because his administration has “done so well and because our country is making so much money.”
“Only I can make this promise to you,” he said at the time, despite his vow requiring congressional approval.
But critics have compared the proposal to a cash “bribe.”
Experts have also caution that the move would spike inflation, amounting to a budget blowout of up to $1.3 trillion when the current U.S. debt is already $40 trillion.
Trump’s desperate ploy comes as Republicans brace for a big blue wave come November. A bombshell New York Times poll on Tuesday reinforced that belief, showing Democrats have a significant advantage over Republicans with less than 50 days until the midterms. According to The New York Times and a Siena University poll, likely voters favored Democrats over Republicans by nearly nine percentage points in their congressional district.
Despite Republicans’ unpopularity being largely attributed to Trump, the GOP establishment had made little effort to distance itself from the president.
“You got to get out and vote, and you’re going to pretend I’m on the ballot because, in a way, I am on the ballot,” Trump said at the convention. “Because if [Democrats] get in, they’re going to take away all of the things that we got, we can’t let that happen.”
