Donald Trump’s got a new midterm pitch: Support the GOP and get $5,000. Politicians from both sides of the aisle say it’s obviously bogus.
The November midterms are rapidly approaching, and President Donald Trump is flailing. He knows the picture looks terrible for Republicans — and for his own prospects of holding power over Congress. He’s resorting to sketchy mob-boss-businessman tactics: promising loads of cash to Americans who help keep him in control.
The past 24 hours have seen two fresh attempts by Trump to convince Americans to vote for his party, in exchange for cold, hard cash. First: Trump
pledged to givea $5,000 “Trump Dividend” to every adult in the United States if Republicans keep control of Congress after the midterms. Second: Trumppromised to hand out$500 checks to nearly one million Americans, who he claims have been overcharged by Obamacare.
Both ideas would be extremely costly and difficult to implement. And that’s why you shouldn’t start spending that dividend yet. Politicians brushed aside the initiatives as
Trump just being Trump.
“Donald Trump is a known liar. I mean, [the dividend] was just a joke,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) told
What A Day. “He’s been talking about giving outDOGE checks[which] never came. He was going to do these $1,000 checks earlier this term. That never happened.” He added: “People don’t want more lies. What they want is for him to actually focus on lowering the cost of their everyday goods.”
Democrats aren’t the only ones throwing cold water on the idea. “I would like to know how they would plan to pay for … well over $1 trillion,”
saidRep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who is retiring.
Vice President JD Vance
claimed thatthe $5,000 checks would be covered by revenue generated from tariffs. Fact check: Tariffs havenot generated nearly enough moneyto cover the “dividend.”
Trump’s approach to election rigging has become stunningly laissez faire.
Yes, Trump lies all the time, and he hasn’t followed through on past pledges to give out money. But there’s a bigger problem here: Trump has successfully normalized his interest in election tampering. That’s particularly concerning, as
nearly half of Americansdon’t think the midterms will be conducted fairly.
Trump knows he’s in big trouble if he loses total control of Congress, which looks increasingly possible. Vance
warned GOP donorsthat Democrats will “bury the American people in investigations and bullshit” if they win. Garcia, who’s primed to become the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said he’s prepared to tackle their corruption.
“We’re thinking about all of the kinds of Trump grift and schemes,” Garcia told me. He listed a few issues off the top of his head: A Trump-linked firm
selling pardons. Trump’sstock trading. His family’scrypto earnings. Don Jr. and Eric Trump’sother business venturestied to the government. Jared Kushner’sbusiness in the Middle East, while informally serving as a top diplomat.
**“All of that has to be investigated, and we’re very committed to that,” Garcia said. **“We’ve already started a lot of that work.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently launched a podcast and cooking show. Doesn’t the HHS secretary have better things to do, like fight the measles and “diarrhea salad” outbreaks?
That’s what a group of Senate Democrats are trying to find out. In a letter to Kennedy — provided exclusively to What A Day — six lawmakers urged him to release details about how he has been using government resources.
“You appear to be directing taxpayer dollars and official federal resources to produce vanity projects,” reads the letter, which was spearheaded by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
Amid the country’s worst measles outbreak in decades, Kennedy has appeared to be more focused on discussing “biohacking” in his new podcast, the letter reads. Democrats also take issue with his cooking show: “A recent episode of this show, paid for with taxpayer dollars, featured you discussing ‘The Secret to the PERFECT Omelet,’” they write.
The projects are hosted on government websites and state that they were produced by HHS.
Senate Dems are asking Kennedy to explain how much time he has spent coordinating a response to public health outbreaks versus filming his shows, and how much money has been spent in response to the outbreaks compared to the shows.
Will Kennedy respond to this request? Probably not. Is it embarrassing that America’s top health official seems to care more about podcasting than his real job? Totally.
** Iran-backed Houthi militants seized a key port** in Yemen today, threatening to disrupt global energy supplies. The escalation came after Donald Trump told reporters that he believes the war will “end immediately after the election.” But top Trump aides, including JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
** The Supreme Court blocked Missouri from enacting** a new congressional map that would favor Republicans in the midterms, for the second time this week.
** Gay dating app Grindr experienced major outages** in Dallas over the past day, according to a website that crowdsources where apps are down across the country. That just happens to be where the GOP is gathering for their midterm convention. Coincidence? Or are closeted conservatives jamming the gay sex app with feverish swiping? “Well, they say it’s a big tent,” one social media user wrote.
** Former Trump aide Katie Miller, who’s married** to
** Democrats aren’t rushing to criticize Sen. John Fetterman** (D-PA) after he promised to work with Trump to revive the steel industry, in a surprise video message played during the GOP’s midterm convention. “It’s a waste of energy to get spun up about his voting record or place in our party — he votes with us 90 percent of the time,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) told Politico, amid fears that Fetterman will switch parties. (He recently said he’ll remain a Democrat.)
** Americans still trust Dr. Anthony Fauci more than **RFK Jr., according to a new poll. (Sure, they hate our new dystopian era of fake health science, measles and poop lettuce… but have they tried Bobby’s omelet???)
** A Palestinian dressmaker was about to close** her business… and then pop star Olivia Rodrigo requested a custom dress to inaugurate her Daisy Chain music festival. “I was genuinely like, maybe we should stop, maybe this is our last effort. I was just so tired,” Yasmeen Mjalli told Vogue Arabia, citing the difficulty of working as an artist in the occupied West Bank. Rodrigo’s commission, however, “was like divine intervention,” she said. “Obstacles are always going to be there, but if you can adapt you will be rewarded.”
** Researchers believe that insects could be used **as first responders during disasters. The latest invention: a cyborg cockroach, known as a Paraborg. “The research team developed two types of Paraborgs with different functions: one equipped with a camera to film the condition of disaster victims, and another with an automatic injection mechanism to administer medication,” Wired writes. Thank you in advance, Dr. Roach.
** Those old Pokémon in your basement might **have a very important use one day, according to a prominent venture capitalist. “I’m absolutely convinced that if the world suffered an apocalypse tomorrow, the following day the global currency would be Pokémon cards,” Peter Levin told
** Looking to escape the U.S. ahead of the midterm chaos?** Do I have a recommendation for you! There are five food festivals across Italy this fall, showcasing the country’s pistachios, truffles, olive oil,
** An Ohio state trooper adopted a Great Dane-pit bull puppy** that his colleague found abandoned inside a crate at a highway rest stop. “He’s doing great. He’s very intelligent and has already learned how to sit and lay down,” the trooper said.
