Trump has a knack for good politics—and Democrats should copy it
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People feel disconnected from politics and government. And that disconnection leads them to vote based on nonissues like trans athletes. The best way to reconnect them? Make it blazingly obvious how the government helps them. For example, don’t justTrump has a knack for good politics—and Democrats should copy it
People feel disconnected from politics and government. And that disconnection leads them to vote based on nonissues like trans athletes. The best way to reconnect them? Make it blazingly obvious how the government helps them. For example, don’t just hide benefits in obscure tax credits or long-horizon infrastructure projects. Send them freakin’ checks. President Donald Trump is the dumbest motherfucker to ever occupy the Oval Office—but, damn, he knows how to rally the masses. When COVID-19 stimulus checks went out under his watch, he made sure that his name was on them. In contrast, President Joe Biden reverted to letting the Treasury secretary sign them, a mistake he recently admitted was “stupid.” Now Trump is toying with the idea of sending Americans checks funded by tariff revenue. A COVID-19 stimulus check with President Donald Trump’s name on it. “We’re thinking about that actually. We have so much money coming in, we’re thinking about a little rebate,” Trump told reporters before heading off to Scotland on Friday. He said that the rebate might go to “people of a certain income level, adding that “the big thing we want to do is pay down debt. But we’re thinking about a rebate.” It’s worth noting that paying down debt was the original justification Trump gave for his economy-destroying tariffs—and, yes, higher prices are coming. But voters don’t actually care about debt. They say they do, but it’s not how they vote. The deficit and debt are abstract, disconnected from people’s daily struggles—just like climate change often is. What voters do respond to is someone promising to lower prices or offer free stuff—like lower prices on Day 1 and free buses. Direct checks are politically potent. If Democrats had converted the Child Tax Credit into monthly payments signed by Biden, they could have campaigned in 2024 with a simple message: “Republicans will cancel your checks. Vote accordingly.” Now imagine Trump distributing tariff rebates to voters. Republicans in 2026 or 2028 could easily say, “Democrats will repeal those tariffs and cancel your checks.” Even if the counterargument is that the tariffs cost more than the check is worth, that’s a hard message to land. So far, Trump’s tariffs have brought in $113 billion over the past 9 months. Assuming that none of those tariff revenues offset the massive $3.4 trillion in new debt created by the GOP’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” that works out to a one-time payment of $437 per person—or about $48 a month. Not nothing, but not life-changing either. President Donald Trump announces his tariffs on “Liberation Day.” Looking forward, the Tax Foundation estimates that Trump’s tariffs will generate $2.5 trillion over the next decade. That’s about $245.5 billion per year. Divide that by 336 million Americans, and it comes to roughly $731 a year, or $61 a month. That’s better than current levels, given that many of Trump’s proposed tariffs are still in limbo, but again, it won’t move the economic needle for most people. Trump did say that the checks would go to people “of a certain income level,” which means they could be targeted toward his working class base and end up larger than the estimated $61 monthly payment. But that same Tax Foundation model also projects that Trump’s tariffs will shrink GDP by nearly a percentage point and eliminate almost 800,000 jobs. The economic damage would be real—and it would disproportionately hurt the very same low-income workers that these checks are supposedly meant to help. Still, it’s good politics. And it’s the kind of thing that Democrats should have been doing all along—just without the economic destruction. And our version should make the richest 1% pay for it. Read more
