Jennings on $5K dividend: ‘I don‘t know that that is the right idea’

Right-wing commentator Scott Jennings expressed ambivalence Wednesday about President Trump’s offer to give $5,000 to American adults if Republicans win this year’s midterms.

“I don’t know that that is the right idea here,” Jennings told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source,” talking about the proposal.

“What the right idea is, is growth, which we have, job creation, which we have,” he added. “I would go for another round of tax cuts, to be honest, which I think the American people would welcome. And that’s in direct opposition to the Democrats, who have anti-growth policies, anti-job policies. They don’t want to cut anybody’s taxes.”

Earlier this month, Trump pledged to hand over $5,000 dividends to American adults only if Republicans hold on to Congress following the midterms. The president unveiled the proposed “Trump dividends” as he was speaking at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas.

Trump said his administration could send out the dividends to every adult in the country “because we’ve done so well and because our country is making so much money.”

The president’s push to give all U.S. adults $5,000 payments if Republicans keep Congress received pushback from Republican lawmakers, saying they would not support giving money to people who don’t work or pay taxes.

GOP fiscal hawks advised that the proposal raised questions about the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare, estimated to hit shortfalls in 2032 and 2033, respectively.