Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, an extraordinary gambit to reverse his party’s sagging fortunes in November.
The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation.
He’s not really buying votes if he’s promising it to everybody. At that point it’s just a stimulus.
It’s a bribe because it’s conditional on Republicans holding congress. He’s buying votes. Whether or not he’d actually make good on the offer is an entirely separate matter.
I get where you’re coming from, but he could easily argue that he needs a Republican majority for the bill to pass, and that the conditional is referring to that.
He could. I still think it’s a textbook bribe, but ultimately it would have to be congress deciding, and I doubt they would judge based on the US code so much as they would be weighing their election chances with President Trump vs President Vance.
If it’s contingent upon people doing something that he wants, it’s a bribe. It doesn’t matter if it’s other things too. A bribe can take many forms.