Polls Show Voter Backlash to Trump’s $5,000 Midterm Proposal

Evelyn Hockstein / REUTERS Donald Trump’s attempt to energize Republicans with a $5,000 payout is facing a serious polling problem, with voters rejecting the proposal just days after he unveiled it at the GOP’s midterm convention.

At the Dallas convention, designed to rally the GOP before the Nov.

3 elections, Trump promised every adult American a $5,000 payment if Republicans retain control of both houses of Congress, potentially adding $1.35 trillion to the national debt.

But an NBC News poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted from Sept.

11–15 found voters were more than twice as likely to back a candidate opposed to the plan than one who expressed support for it.

While 21 percent said Trump’s proposal would make them more likely to back a candidate, 46 percent said it would make them less likely to do so.

Among independents, 45 percent said they would be less likely to support a candidate who endorsed the plan.

Another poll delivered a similar warning.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey of 1,143 Americans found 63 percent disapproved of Trump’s dividend proposal, including 4 in 10 Republicans and 9 in 10 Democrats.

The proposal was a desperate attempt by Trump to boost support for the GOP ahead of the midterms.

While midterms are historically difficult for the party in power, things have been particularly bleak for the Republicans amid Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.

The conflict, launched in February without congressional authorization, has sent energy prices sharply higher.

AAA puts the national average for regular gasoline at about $4.48 a gallon, up from $4.14 over Labor Day weekend, while diesel has hit a record $6.49 a gallon.

As prices rise, polling indicates growing frustration with both the economy and the war.