People Are Accusing Trump Of "Vote Buying" With His Latest $5,000 Promise, And Even Fox News Is Calling Him Out
by Lee Moran · BuzzFeedPosted 2 minutes ago
Fox News pointed out a wrinkle with Donald Trump’s big promise to shower every American adult with a $5,000 dividend if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.
The president told the GOP midterm convention on Wednesday: “Because we’ve done so well and because our country is making so much money that, only I can make this promise to you, and here is my promise. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic, tremendous economic success, like, in history we’ve never had anything like what’s happening. But 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.”
Watch here:
.@POTUS announces the TRUMP DIVIDEND: If Republicans win both the House and the Senate, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States for $5,000 pic.twitter.com/s4orJJGx9d
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 10, 2026
@RapidResponse47 / Via x.com
The only condition of the money, Trump said, would be that it has to be spent in the US.
But as Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich noted during coverage of the “surprise announcement” at the convention, Trump has made similar promises about money for voters before without ultimately delivering.
“We should note, though, it is not the first time he has promised a cash payment like this,” said Heinrich. “He promised Americans $2,000 rebates during his tariff policy, when that was enacted, but after court challenges to the tariffs themselves, those $2,000 checks, so far, have not materialized.”
Watch here:
Critics on social media also noted that Trump had previously embraced the idea of returning some of the alleged savings claimed by the Elon Musk-run, so-called Department of Government Efficiency in the early days of his second term, via $5,000 checks.
Those payments never saw the light of day either.
Others accused Trump of effectively trying to bribe American voters with his latest vow:
The claim that federal budget is so overrun with surplus cash that Washington can afford to spend $1.3 trillion on "rebates" is so detached from reality that I refuse to waste my time walking through the math.
If that makes sense to you, you are beyond help. https://t.co/IiOxtZLUiS
— Jessica Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 (@JessicaBRiedl) September 10, 2026
@JessicaBRiedl / Fox News / Via x.com
You have to be a special kind of stupid to believe that Trump will give every American a $5,000 dividend if Republicans win the midterms.
— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) September 10, 2026
@MikeNellis / Via x.com
lol. trump openly bribing people to vote for republicans. $5k per person if republicans hold the house and the senate?
— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 10, 2026
@samstein / Via x.com
There are something like 269 million American adults. Sending all of them a check for $5000, as the President just proposed, would cost the US government $1.35 trillion dollars... I've asked the White House where they think that money would come from.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) September 10, 2026
@GarrettHaake / Via x.com
My daddy used to call this “vote buying”. https://t.co/sDShPwpBr6
— Alan Simpson (@BAlan2468) September 10, 2026
@BAlan2468 / Via x.com
Trump attempts to bribe people to vote for Republicans in the midterms pic.twitter.com/gSPTDBWyqu
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) September 10, 2026
@HQNewsNow / Via x.com
Like the DOGE cheques? Or the Tariff cheques? Will Americans ever wise up to this conman? https://t.co/YV4bAzaWKl
— Laura Babcock 🇨🇦 (@LauraBabcock) September 10, 2026
@LauraBabcock / Via x.com
If you believe this, you’re a fucking idiot. https://t.co/5dlieRFC9N
— Jamie Bonkiewicz (@JamieBonkiewicz) September 10, 2026
@JamieBonkiewicz / Via x.com
Yes, let's just bribe the Electorate with no pretense of dignity... https://t.co/7LdNtquZcB
— Brian Webber (@bwwebber) September 10, 2026
@bwwebber / Via x.com
Right after you get your DOGE dividend and your tariff rebate checks and your gold from Fort Knox https://t.co/moPYsRof3C
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 10, 2026
@MeidasTouch / Via x.com
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.