‘Trump-a-palooza': Is Trump Serious About a $5K Midterm Payout?

0:00So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. I'm on it. Just one more time. This week in Texas, something unusual has been happening. A Republican national convention during a midterm year. This first time this has ever happened. And even though he's not on the ballot in November, President Donald Trump told Republican voters to pretend that he is in a speech that lasted nearly two hours last night. But is that something Republicans want? Trump still holds a ton of sway over the party, but at the same time he is historically unpopular. And the GOP is facing political headwinds across the country amid inflation that just won't quit and a war with Iran that has jacked up gas prices. So today, let's go to Dallas and check in with CNN senior reporter Steve Contorno. We're going to talk about how Trump has been received thus far a surprise appearance from a Democrat and what to make of Trump's audacious promise to pay American adults $5,000 each

1:03if Republicans win in November. From CNN, I'm David Rind and this is one thing midterms. Stick with us. With Share My Trip from Uber, you can send your live trip location to the ones who matter most, like Dan and Hannah who always wait up to make sure their daughter gets back to her college dorm room. More Tiffany who's running late as usual and her friends are tracking her trip to make sure she's actually on her way. Or Sam who never goes anywhere without her roommate knowing exactly where she is. Some journeys are meant to be shared. Share your ride in real time with Share My Trip on Uber. One more way Uber is putting safety at every turn. Learn more on the Uber app. Well Steve, tell me, where are you right now? I am in the CNN studio booth, whatever you want to call it for the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center. Yeah, I can see the balloons up in the rafters behind you.

2:03That's pretty wild. To be dropped later. Right and that's usually a thing that happens at party conventions in the round to presidential elections. I've covered them. You've covered a bunch. This is a midterm year. So why exactly is there this quote unquote convention happening and how did it all come together? Well, it's happening because President Trump wanted it to happen. His default is showmanship. So with the GOP confronting these enthusiasm concerns, he decided to put on a show. In this case, it's a very Trump-centric show that sounded more like one of his rallies than a typical convention would. Not everyone in his party thinks this is the best approach. There are a lot of Republican officials here, but there are some notable absences as well from candidates in especially tight races for House and Senate and Governor. And, you know, there's also a risk from appearing too distant from the President though. He remains a popular figure in his party and with the GOP base. So it's a tough balance for these candidates that are in competitive races. And what was the mood inside last night?

3:05Like was it full? Is there enthusiasm gap among the attendees as well? No. Ever as full as Trump says it is, but you know, it had a strong showing. I don't know if there are many figures in American politics that could fill an arena of this size like Trump can in a September before a midterm election. So that is certainly to his credit and to reason why Republicans believe he needs to be part of their pitch as they try to get these GOP voters to show up in a midterm election year. Right. So what exactly was his pitch as he spoke last night if we continue to hear from voters that they really aren't thrilled with the job he's done. And we see that some Republicans are like literally not even showing up to this, like you said. So what exactly was the message? The message was vote in November as though I'm on the ballot. And it really speaks to one of the key challenges for Republicans. How do you get these irregular voters that they have relied on in years when Trump is up for election

4:06to participate when he's not? You know, I said the other day I've got so much of a schedule. I said, I thought I won. What do I have to do? I'm campaigning. But I am. We're campaigning to make it incredible to really. You know, Trump's political team is trying to convince people. He is and he is expected to hit the road over the next, you know, 50 plus days to spread that message. And I'll be coming back to Texas because we have to elect Ken Paxson. We have to. Tonight it'll be JD Vance's turn. The vice presidents chance to make that pitch. The question is who will be watching? You know, Trump's speech last night went up against the NFL season opener. There's another game tonight. It's a school night. I think there's some hope that even if people are not turning in, that these clips of these speeches will at least find their way onto social media feeds. But as far as, you know, who this is for and who's watching, that is definitely a question that remains unanswered. But because of our tremendous strength and success economically,

5:11I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. One moment that is certainly getting a lot of attention in the aftermath of the speech is Trump's promise to deliver $5,000 checks to every American adult if Republicans hold the House and the Senate. $5,000 for every American adult. Like, can he even do that? That is certainly one of the questions that he and congressional leaders are going to have to answer. It would be quite costly. You know, the back of the napkin math says that be about $1.3 trillion. $1.3 trillion. Yeah. Obviously he's made similar promises in the past, whether it's the tariff dividend he promised that never materialized or checks from the doge cuts, you know, reaching the American people. So this seems to be in a similar vein. The only caveat I have is that the dividend that we're making must be spent

6:16in the United States of America. We don't want you. And, you know, whether or not this can energize Republican voters to actually show up remains to be seen. I mean, if you look at it, you know, rather cynically, it's like pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm actually not. We're going to pay you $5,000 if Republicans hold on to majorities even though it seems unclear if that's actually possible or prudent financially. I mean, so, yeah, I guess the question is, is that going to be enough to convince people to come out or are folks going to, you know, maybe see through some of that stuff? Well, these are the methods that you're left with when you're polling at about 35% with the American public that you, when you are engaged in an unpopular war, when there are concerns about gas prices and home prices and general cost of stuff, things that you said do it itself, you know, soon after taking office that clearly haven't been solved. And so what's ironic is one of the things that helped Trump win is the inflation that this country experienced

7:23under President Biden. That was potentially caused at least some experts say by those COVID relief checks that he sent out. And Trump is now proposing to do one that would be four times the size of that. All right, got to take a break. When we come back, a Democrat crashes the party or was he invited? Stick around. With Share My Trip from Uber, you can send your live trip location to the ones who matter most. Like Dan and Hannah, who always wait up to make sure their daughter gets back to her college dorm room. Or Tiffany, who's running late as usual, and her friends are tracking her trip to make sure she's actually on her way. Look, she's right there. She's three minutes away. Or Sam, who never goes anywhere without her roommate knowing exactly where she is. Some journeys are meant to be shared. Share your ride in real time with Share My Trip on Uber. One more way Uber is putting safety at every turn. Learn more on the Uber app. Yes, I'm Senator John Federman, Pennsylvania. Yes, I'm a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today?

8:27Well, so Steve, besides the president last night, I think a lot of people were shocked to hear from a Democrat at one of these things. John Federman had this video message. What's going on there? He showed up in a video message to introduce his Republican counterpart in the Senate from Pennsylvania. I'm always going to reject the extremes in socialism and that anti-American way of life. Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done. It certainly caught a lot of people here by surprise, and it also was one of the louder applause of the evening that wasn't for President Trump. I actually think that the applause for Federman might have been larger than it was for McCormick when he took the stage. It definitely speaks to the frustrations that Federman has with his own party, and will certainly amplify the frustrations in turn that Democrats have had with Federman. Yeah, a lot of rumors about whether he may switch parties and move over to the Republicans,

9:31he put out a statement later, basically saying he is still a Democrat. It would be the 51st vote if Democrats were to take the Senate, but obviously the optics are certainly notable. They're notable in their angering Democrats. Now, how much space do you give someone who's in a very purple state to do what they believe is best in order to remain popular with their voters? Is a question Democrats will have to answer? They went through something similar with Arizona Senator Kiersten Sinema, who is no longer in Congress. You mentioned that JD Vance is going to be talking later tonight. He obviously is one of the faces that is going to be right at the top of any 2028 chatter in the Republican Party. Are those conversations happening actively as you kind of walk the halls here? It's funny. It's certainly on the minds of people here. You don't have to probe them very hard when you talk to these attendees about the future of the party. JD Vance naturally comes up in

10:34those conversations. But what I find rather striking is that nearly every time I bring up JD Vance to someone when it's either out on the road at conservative gathering or here at this convention, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is inevitably mentioned without provocation, you know, immediately afterwards. So that's certainly a dynamic to watch as the party figures out its future beyond Trump. And something that Vice President JD Vance is going to have to wrestle with, you know, whether or not Trump hands off the baton to him with an endorsement that is unequivocal, that will definitely be of help to his political future. But it doesn't answer the question of why there are already so many people willing to look beyond the Vice President to someone else in the President's cabinet. And Trump, of course, not letting Vance have the spotlight all by himself will also be giving a closing remarks later tonight. Well Steve, we'll let you get back to it. Thank you.

11:38Thank you, David. All right, that's all for now. You could follow live updates from the convention over at CNN.com later today and all night long. And keep it locked to this feed later today. We'll have another update with the headlines from around the world. I'm David Ryan, talk to you next time. On any journey using Uber, it helps to know you're getting into the right car. Pin verification adds an extra step to make sure your ride is your ride. Before the trip begins, your app gives you a unique pin. Just tell it to your driver and they'll enter it in their app before the ride can start. Hey, what's your pin? 2538. That way you know you're in the right car taking the right trip and your driver knows you're the right passenger. Make sure your ride is your ride with pin verification from Uber. One more way Uber is putting safety at every turn. Learn more on the Uber app. Today, I've waited such a long time for this. She has. Prepare to be bewitched for the own sisters. Yeah, everyone we love does. It's not great for the

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