Republican incumbents and candidates are already fundraising around President Donald Trump’s undetailed promise to send $5,000 checks out to Americans if Republicans keep control of both the House and the Senate in the November midterms.
Groups affiliated with Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas and Jimmy Patronis of Florida sent fundraising emails based on the check on Thursday and Friday, featuring messages like: “Trump just promised $5,000 back in your pocket if Republicans hold Congress this midterm. … This is your FINAL CHANCE.”
Challengers across the country are deploying a similar tactic. A campaign text promoting Eric Flores — a Texas Republican running in what the Cook Political Report has deemed a “toss up” race against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez — also touted Trump’s proposal in a message to potential voters.
“Attachment: $5,000 check for Mr./Mrs. [BLANK]. Pres. Trump just authorized it. Access portal & support approval ASAP,” the text reads before linking to Flores’ WinRed fundraising page.
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In New Hampshire, House candidate Anthony DiLorenzo’s campaign in a lean-Democrat district sent an email stating “IF YOU” help Republicans win the midterm elections, “THEN TRUMP will send you a $5,000 Trump dividend check! Deal or no deal?”
Other Republican campaigns in Democrat-leaning states and districts, including Rosie Pino’s House campaign in New Jersey and Bert Mizusawa’s Senate campaign in Virginia, sent fundraising emails with similar motifs soon after Trump’s announcement.
None of the campaigns responded immediately to a request for comment.
Trump’s campaign also blasted several fundraising emails, as did the Senate Patriot PAC, a group that supports electing Republican senators.
“Would you want a $5,000 check thanks to me, TRUMP, if we win BOTH the House of Representatives and the United States Senate?” one email reads.
Many Republican lawmakers have cast doubt on the feasibility of Trump’s idea, which he announced on stage at Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas. More than a dozen lawmakers, aides and policy experts told The Washington Sun on Thursday that they were blindsided by the announcement, with one person briefed on the pledge describing the planning as “not very vigorous.”
A handful of GOP lawmakers and executive branch members have offered tentative proposals on how the president could distribute around $1.2 trillion in dividends to American adults, though Trump himself has not laid out clear plans.
Retiring Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina poured cold water on the proposal on Friday, saying that he has “serious concerns” about “another massive spending package without a clear way to pay for it.”
“Tying government checks to the outcome of an election starts to sound like pay-to-play politics,” he wrote in a post on X. “Republicans should earn the support of the American people through good policy, not by promising another round of checks from Washington.”
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