President Trump once again promised voters a dividend check this week — despite not following through on others he’s promised — this time offering $5,000 to every person who helps Republicans keep their majority in this November’s midterm elections. But, on Thursday night, Jimmy Fallon joked that there’s another way to get that money: laugh at every punchline during “The Tonight Show.”
The NBC host made the fake promise right at the top of his monologue, as he welcomed the audience to the show.
“Thank you for watching. And I just want to say quickly, if you laugh at all these jokes tonight, President Trump said he’ll give everyone in the audience $5,000,” Fallon quipped.
The late night host then poked fun at Trump’s 2-hour long address at the Republican midterm convention held this week for the first time ever. According to Fallon, two hours is not so much a speech, “that’s a residency.” But eventually, he turned his attention back to Trump’s dividend bait.
“Trump said that if Republicans win both the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, he will give every American adult $5,000. Now, I know that sounds like a bribe,” Fallon said. “In Trump’s defense, he’s never going to pay us, so technically it’s not a bribe.”
It is true that the president has previously promised checks to Americans that he never followed through on. Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump touted the idea of $5000 stimulus checks from DOGE, $2000 stimulus checks as “tariff dividends,” and $1000 from expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. None have come to fruition.
But, if this particular check actually does come through, Fallon is pretty sure there will be one key caveat.
“$5,000 for everyone, the only catch is the money must be spent at the Mar-a-Lago gift shop,” he joked.
You can watch Jimmy Fallon’s full monologue in the video above.
