Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, an extraordinary gambit to reverse his party’s sagging fortunes in November.
The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation.
Any Republican worth anything would do it “as a patriot.” Bipartisanship is fine, but “patriotism” is their whole thing. When a president does something this bold it should be easy to benefit by being someone who actually stands up for what they speak about so often. Obviously this is in a sane world though, and it also requires that they care about real patriotism, not nationalism.
This is especially true when the guy you need to stand up to has a 32% approval rating. It’s not hard to look good when you’re kicking the guy no one likes, and it honestly might be the move to flip centrists away from the “woke” progressives that are winning primaries.
Not that I want that. I’d rather have the progressives win and start sending fuckers to the Hague. But I’d be shocked if there wasn’t some conservative think-tank mapping out this possibility.