Fox News’ Bret Baier presses J.D. Vance on Donald Trump ‘bribing voters to vote for Republicans to take over the House,’ critics accuse VP of trying to ‘sanewash’ the president’s ‘insane ramblings’
Vice President J.D. Vance was pressed by Fox News anchor Bret Baier after President Donald Trump promised $5,000 payments to American adults if Republicans keep control of Congress in the midterm elections.
At the GOP convention in Texas on Wednesday, September 9, Trump announced the plan and referred to the payments as a “dividend.”
The proposal could cost upwards of $1.3 trillion, depending on how many Americans qualify.
Trump’s $5,000 promise
The plan drew pushback online, with some accusing Vance of trying to “sanewash” Trump’s proposal.
Meanwhile, some conservatives questioned whether it would actually work financially.
Baier asked Vance how he would respond to the concerns, saying, “I can hear the critics’ heads exploding.”
He continued, “They’re saying out loud, I guarantee you, ‘The president is bribing voters to vote for Republicans to take over the House, and then he’s bankrupting the country because the deficit and debt is huge and inflation would come back if this comes into play.’ So how do you answer those criticisms?”
Vance defends proposal
Vance said the plan was about giving money back to American workers, not making a campaign promise.
“Well, I say first of all, what the president’s talking about is fundamentally a dividend for American workers. We’re taking in an extraordinary amount of revenue because the president of the United States is actually standing up to both foreign companies, but also foreign countries who’ve been taking advantage of America’s workers for pretty much my entire life,” he said.
The VP noted that the tariffs were bringing in money and helping pay down the debt. He then explained what Trump was offering voters.
“What the president’s just saying is, ‘If you keep it going to the American people, if you keep us in power and allow us to continue to do these things, then you’re going to share in some of the benefit of this incredible wealth that, that we’re, we’re creating in the United States of America.’ I don’t think it’s a controversial idea,” Vance said.
Critics hit back
Despite his explanation, some questioned whether Vance was making Trump’s plan seem more plausible than it really was.
“Liar liar pants on fire,” one user wrote, while another added, “Vance again pathetically tries to sanewash Trump’s insane ramblings.”
A third X user wrote, “This is how scammers talk by the way.”
“If you really believe that you’re going to get a $5000 check from @POTUS for voting Republican this fall, he probably has an arch in Washington he wants to sell you,” another added.
Analysts question proposal
NBC News journalist Garrett Haake and Brookings Institution fellow Jessica Riedl also questioned the financial side of the proposal.
“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,” Riedl wrote.
“Tariff revenue doesn’t come anywhere CLOSE to covering the cost of the $5000 dividend,” Haake added.