“The Daily Show” roasted President Trump over his promise this week to send $5,000 checks to every American adult if Republicans maintain control of the House and the Senate in this year’s midterm elections, joking, “$5,000?!? That’s two trips to the grocery store!”
“We’re less than two months away from the midterms, which means you’ve got just under 60 days to find out who your representative is and what Congress does,” host Michael Kosta noted at the top of his Thursday night monologue. The comedian went on to roll a montage of news reports relaying that a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance since retaking office.
“Americans are so unforgiving! You lose one war, you blow up one economy, you give people one explosive diarrhea? Get over it!” Kosta joked. He then turned his attention to the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention, which kicked off in Dallas on Wednesday. The convention featured an appearance from Ken Paxton, the Republican running in this year’s Texas senate race.
After watching a few clips from Paxton’s convention speech, Kosta called the politician “awful” and a “charisma black hole.” However, as the host noted, Trump does not seem too worried about Paxton’s mainstream appeal.
“You know what? Trump doesn’t need Ken Paxton to keep the House and the Senate,” Kosta said. “He has a secret weapon, and it’s called… a bribe.”
During his own speech, Trump promised to send $5,000 checks to American voters if — and only if — Republicans end up holding onto the House and Senate through this year’s midterm election cycle.
“Holy s—t! $5,000?!? That’s two trips to the grocery store! Or one, if you buy raspberries,” Kosta remarked. The Comedy Central star further roasted Trump for his decision to label the bribe a “dividend.”
“Do you know when businesses hand out dividends? When they’re raking in money! The last time I checked we, as a country, have negative $40 trillion of money,” he said. “America should not be handing out dividends. We should be faking our own death and starting a new life in Thailand.”
“This is just the latest in a cycle of Trump’s behavior with the American people,” Kosta later observed. “This spiral is exhausting, poisonous and it makes you question the very health of our democracy.”
