In an interview set to air on her show Thursday night, Ingraham asked the president about the promise he made Wednesday night to send $5,000 checks to every adult American citizen if Republicans maintained control of the Senate and the House in the midterms.
Considering many Americans are struggling financially as a direct result of Trump’s policies, Ingraham wondered: Why wait?
“Why not just give the money now? If you have the money, why not give it now?” she asked the president.
“Because the Democrats can’t do it. Because for them, it’s negative growth,” he said. “With us, it’s so positive,” Trump said. “So, we’re taking in $21 trillion. No country has ever taken in anywhere near that. It’s four or five times higher than the next one. All because of the beautiful word you and I love more than most others: tariffs.”
A lot of things have to happen for Trump’s proposed election dividend to come to pass.
That includes figuring out whether it’s actually legal, since, as BBC correspondent Sarah Smith noted, “It is against the law to try and offer a payment to influence people on how they are going to vote.”
Sending the money to citizens could cost as much as $1.3 trillion and would likely raise inflation levels even higher ― if Congress even approved the plan.
And, yes, some people found the excuse hard to swallow.