Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday floated a novel get-out-the-vote strategy for President Trump: promise cheaper beer. During a segment with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Watters suggested that Trump should tell voters, “Half-off beer if you vote Republican,” adding, “Why not?” The remark came as the two discussed how politicians can draw larger crowds at public events.
The exchange began when Johnson jokingly proposed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed offer half-price beers at their own rallies. Watters seized on the idea and applied it to Trump, noting that the president is already dangling $5,000 cash payments to adults if Republicans keep control of Congress after November.
Earlier this month, Trump unveiled what he called “Trump dividends” during a speech at the Republican National Committee’s Dallas midterm convention. He said his administration could send the funds to American adults “because we’ve done so well and because our country is making so much money.” The proposal has not been detailed or costed out, and it remains unclear how such a payout would be financed.
The beer joke lands at a difficult moment for the GOP and the White House. Trump’s average approval rating recently slipped below 40 percent, and voters are increasingly anxious about the cost of living. The unpopular war in Iran has now entered its seventh month, driving up energy costs after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil shipments. According to AAA, the average price of a regular gallon of gas on Tuesday afternoon was about $4.46, up sharply from roughly $3.14 a year earlier.
Some Republicans have begun to distance themselves from Trump on Iran as they fight to hold their seats before Election Day. The combination of rising gas prices, lingering inflation, and Trump’s sagging poll numbers has fueled Democratic hopes of retaking Congress. As GOP donors panic over Trump’s drag, party strategists are searching for a message that can cut through the economic gloom.
Watters’s quip may have been in jest, but it reflects a broader scramble among Republicans to find populist appeals that resonate with working-class voters. Trump’s proposed $5,000 dividends and Watters’s beer discount both aim at pocketbook concerns, though neither has been fleshed out as a serious policy. Critics argue such gimmicks distract from the lack of a coherent plan to lower prices.
Meanwhile, governors in several states are moving to address the energy crunch on their own, as states step up to counter Trump’s energy crisis. The White House has yet to announce a comprehensive response to the Strait of Hormuz closure, leaving a vacuum that state leaders are filling with emergency measures.
With the midterms approaching, the president’s allies are testing a range of messages. But as pollster Luntz warns Trump’s midterm playbook could backfire, some in the party worry that stunts like the beer joke will only reinforce the perception that Republicans are out of touch with voters’ real struggles.
