Many Democrats in Congress are on the growing list of critics calling out President Donald Trump for his Wednesday night vow to give US voters $5,000 each if they help Republicans win control of the Senate and House of Representatives—where they already have majorities—in the November midterm elections.
“Nothing says confidence like trying to bribe people for votes,” Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) quipped Thursday.
When Fox News’ Laura Ingraham later asked, “Why not just give the money now?” Trump attempted to blame Democrats.
Noting the president’s jumbled response to that question, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said: “I don’t know what this even means, but I do know the reason Trump won’t give a straight answer is that he doesn’t really mean to send these checks to anyone. He has lied about this over and over again, and he’s lying now. Just like he lied when he said he would lower costs.”
Some critics highlighted other cases of Trump pledging to give Americans money, including alleged savings from the actions of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an effort spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk.
Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said: “So now it’s $5,000 bribes that Trump will never deliver to attempt to make voters forget what they are paying for gas and food. What ever happened to those promised DOGE checks? Americans are not fools, we know he lies daily.”
Blasting the president as “our pathological liar-in-chief,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also pointed to previous instances of Trump promising money, from a 10% cap on credit card interest rates to $2 for a gallon of gasoline.
“The Trump administration is not about helping working families,” the former presidential candidate stressed. “It’s about giving a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1% and throwing 15 million Americans off the healthcare they have.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has also sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, shared on social media Groundwork Collaborative’s roundup of 15 times Trump has promised a check, dividend, or rebate—and not delivered.
Some Democratic governors also took aim at Trump. California’s Gavin Newsom, who is expected to run for president in 2028, said: “After making you sicker and poorer with his war, Donald Trump now wants to buy your vote with $5,000 in taxpayer-funded blood money. The most corrupt man ever to occupy the Oval Office.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul emphasized that “Trump owes New Yorkers $13.5 billion for his illegal tariffs and hasn’t paid up.”
“Now he’s dangling $5,000 checks if Republicans win Congress. A trillion-dollar campaign bribe from a guy who doesn’t pay his bills,” she added. “Fool me once…”
It’s not just elected Democrats ripping Trump’s new pledge. Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said in a Thursday statement that “even for the notoriously corrupt and lawless Trump, this explicit and desperate attempt to buy votes in the November election is a new low.”
“Trump knows he can’t do this, and yet he’s attempting to bribe voters with the false promise of cash to help his party win an election, which is antithetical to every principle of American democracy,” she continued. “Every Republican at the convention and across the country should loudly and vehemently denounce Trump for proposing this dangerous and transparently illegal scheme. The fact that no one has done that yet is cause for deep alarm about the future of American elections.”
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
You’d have to be dumb as a brick to believe Trump’s going to pay $5,000 to everyone if Republicans win the midterms. It’s not even like “Should we do this?”
Americans are not fools, we know he lies daily.
Considering they voted for him for a 2nd term…
Still trying to understand why he gets votes. Asked Claude about what Trump has done for middleclass and down, and to list other bad actions: This is the **critics’ case**, and it’s not exhaustive. I’ve separated what courts actually ruled from what’s contested.
**Ruled unlawful or found liable in court**
- **Tariffs:** The Supreme Court held that the emergency-powers law Trump used doesn’t let a president impose tariffs. Over $170 billion had already been collected, and refunds go to importers even though some had already passed the costs on to consumers. He then imposed a 10% global tariff under a different law.
- **Personal:** Convicted on 34 felony counts in New York (2024) and found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll.
- **Deportations:** Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador despite a court order barring it; the government admitted the error, and the Supreme Court required it to facilitate his return.
**Middle and working class**
- **SNAP (food stamps):** The 2025 megabill cuts nearly $200 billion from SNAP over 10 years. It raises the work-requirement age limit from 54 to 64 and requires more paperwork to enroll. It also shifts costs onto states, and CBO expects some states to drop out of the program entirely.
- **SNAP losses so far:** About 3.5 million people lost benefits between July 2025 and February 2026. Enrollment fell more than 13% in a year, much faster than the government estimated. Caveat: some of that is people losing benefits over paperwork rather than being ineligible.
- **SNAP during the shutdown:** During the fall 2025 shutdown, the administration let November SNAP benefits lapse and fought court orders to pay them in full.
- **Medicaid:** The same bill cuts more than $900 billion from Medicaid, projected to cut enrollment by about 10 million by 2034. Work requirements of 80 hours a month and eligibility checks every six months start at the end of 2026. The cuts partly fund tax cuts that favor high earners and corporations.
- **ACA subsidies:** Enhanced ACA subsidies were allowed to expire, raising premiums. Combined with the Medicaid changes, CBO projects 3.4 million more uninsured in 2026, rising to 8.7 million by 2028.
- **Gas prices:** The Iran war pushed average US gas to $4.39+ a gallon.
- **Economic data:** Fired the Labor Statistics commissioner after a weak jobs report, and gutted the consumer protection bureau (CFPB).
**Health**
- **Vaccine panel:** RFK Jr. replaced the expert vaccine panel with his own picks who share his skepticism. A CDC memo stripped seven childhood vaccines of their universal recommendation, and states are suing.
- **Measles:** 2,371 cases by late July, the worst year since 1991, with about 93% unvaccinated. The US may lose its elimination status this fall.
- **MMR shot:** An August order calls for splitting the MMR shot in three, though the CDC says there’s no evidence that helps.
**Law and democracy**
- **Pardons:** Pardoned about 1,500 January 6 defendants, including violent ones.
- **Prosecuting critics:** Indicted critics like James Comey and Letitia James; those cases were dismissed because the prosecutor was improperly appointed.
- **Minneapolis shootings:** Immigration agents killed two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the administration initially refused to share evidence with state prosecutors.
- **Self-enrichment:** The $TRUMP memecoin, family crypto ventures, and accepting a jet from Qatar.
**Epstein files**
- **Stalling:** Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to release the files, then spent most of 2025 downplaying them and lashing out at Republicans who wanted them released.
- **Forced by Congress:** He signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act only after Congress passed it. The Justice Department then missed the legal deadline to release everything.
- **Still incomplete:** About 3.5 million pages were out by January 30, 2026. Critics in Congress say over 3 million more are still being withheld, and what’s out is heavily redacted.
- **Birthday letter:** A letter for Epstein’s birthday album carries a signature that appears to be Trump’s. He denied it and sued the Wall Street Journal, but a judge dismissed the suit in April 2026 for failing to show actual malice.
- **Missing records:** The Justice Department released FBI notes of a woman alleging Trump assaulted her as a minor in the 1980s. It did so only after news outlets noticed the files were missing from the main release.
- **Attorney General fired:** The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi over the file release in March, and Trump fired her in April. A link between the two hasn’t been established.
Trump hasn’t been charged with any Epstein-related crime.
**World**
- **Iran war:** Launched with Israel on February 28, 2026. Both chambers of Congress passed war powers resolutions to restrain it, and officials put its true cost near $50 billion.
- **Foreign aid:** Dismantled USAID. A Lancet study *projected* millions of extra deaths by 2030; that’s a model estimate, not a count.
- **International agreements:** Left the WHO and the Paris climate agreement again.
- **Boat strikes:** Military strikes killed alleged drug smugglers at sea without trial; their legality is widely disputed.
