Bret Baier presses Paxton on Trump $5K dividend payment support

Fox News host Bret Baier questioned Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee, on Thursday over his support for President Trump’s new controversial “Trump dividend” proposal.

At the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas this week, the president floated the idea of disbursing $5,000 checks to every American adult if Republicans maintain their majority in both chambers of Congress this fall.

The idea has been met with pushback from Democrats and some conservatives, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) warning it could lead to “ more debt and more inflation ,” while left-leaning critics accuse the president of attempting to bribe the voters.

Paxton told Baier he applauded when the president introduced the idea Wednesday evening.

“I clapped because, look, the government takes too much of our money, people are hurting,” he said. “This is a way to help people with higher gas prices, higher energy costs and higher food prices.”

Baier pushed back, noting that the Texas attorney general advertises himself as a “strong fiscal conservative” who is committed to bringing down the national debt and counteracting rising inflation rates.

“Arguably, the critics of this move would say, one, it increases the deficit and debt. Two, it would really spike inflation,” the Fox News host said.

Paxton, who is endorsed by Trump, has been a strong proponent of the president and his administration’s policies during his time in office and in his bid to replace incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the primary. The Republican is up against state Rep. James Talarico (D) in a tightly contested election this November.

“I want to stop the spending, but I want to start returning more of what you earn to the taxpayer so that they can afford to live,” Paxton said. “Right now, the government is taking too high of a percentage for most of my constituents, and certainly, most of the country.”

Several GOP fiscal hawks have openly criticized the proposal, with former Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) slamming it as a “socialist vote-buying scheme.”

Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) questioned how the U.S. government would pay for these disbursements.

“Some of us think dependency is evil & soul-sucking in all its forms,” Roy wrote Thursday on social platform X .

The president has not clarified where this money would come from. In response to a query from The Hill’s broadcast partner, NewsNation, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle did not provide additional details about how the proposal would work.

“President Trump has consistently proven his doubters wrong, drawing a clear contrast with the Democrats’ record of historic inflation, unfettered illegal immigration, skyrocketing crime, and weakness on the world stage,” Ingle said in a statement. “With the continued support of the American people, President Trump will keep delivering real results.”