Kid Rock has encouraged people to vote for Donald Trump after the former president said he won't tax tips if elected.
Trump headlined Turning Point Action's (TPA) convention in Michigan on Saturday as he campaigns amid the 2024 election. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is set to face President Joe Biden in November. During his speech, he told the audience that there would be "no more taxes on tips."
"Tips for restaurant workers and hospitality workers and anyone else relying on tips no more taxes on tips. No taxes on tips. None. None. None. In fact on your receipt, when you get your receipt for a restaurant, you know who sent me one? Kid Rock, how good is Kid Rock? Isn't he craz—great," Trump said.
"But he sent me a receipt and he wrote on the receipt 'Vote for Trump and you won't pay taxes on tips,' he wrote that on the receipt. I said 'That is very smart, that's very smart. Smart guy.' So for restaurant workers or hotel workers or caddies or car people, it's a lot. But anyone receiving tips, there's no more tax on tips."
Kid Rock—whose given name is Robert James Ritchie—shared a clip of Trump's comments as well as a photo of a receipt on X, formerly Twitter. The musician had tipped $400 on a $1143.20 bill and wrote on the receipt: "A vote for Trump is a vote for no tax on tips."
As a bar owner, and having spoke to a few other bar / restaurant owners, this is HUGE! Most small buisness's have all had challenges in staffing. This will solve so many problems for so many hard working Americans! Trump is a genius and for the working class! Biden is straight... pic.twitter.com/UcWwHWugMO
— KidRock (@KidRock) June 16, 2024
He captioned his post: "As a bar owner, and having spoke to a few other bar / restaurant owners, this is HUGE! Most small [businesses] have all had challenges in staffing. This will solve so many problems for so many hard working Americans! Trump is a genius and for the working class! Biden is straight Hollywood! Happy Fathers Day - Kid Rock."
At the time of writing, Kid Rock's post had been viewed 251,500 times. Another post where he only uploaded a photo of the receipt has been viewed 1.1 million times.
Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Kid Rock and Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, for comment on Monday.
Kid Rock's post has received a mixed reaction from social media users.
"As as a former hard-working server prior to my military and law enforcement careers, I can tell you that NO TAX ON TIPS is 'so awesome and huge!'" one person commented.
"People who have never tended bar or waited tables don't realize how big this really is," said another.
"You're an idiot. Please shut the f*** up about things you don't understand," a third person wrote.
Someone else added: "A president cannot stop payroll taxes. He doesn't have that power."
This isn't the first time that Trump has said he would change federal law to not tax workers who earn part of their income through tips. On June 9, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told supporters at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, that if he won in November, it would be one of the first things that he would do. The former president is hoping to flip Nevada, a swing state he lost to his Democratic rival in the 2020 election.
"For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you're going to be very happy because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips," Trump said at the rally. "We're going to do that right away, first thing in office."
"You do a great job of service, you take care of people, and I think it's going to be something that really is deserved."
Culinary Workers Union Local 226, a Nevada union allied with Biden's campaign, dismissed the pledge.
"For decades, the Culinary Union has fought for tipped workers' rights and against unfair taxation," Ted Pappageorge, the union's secretary-treasurer, said in a statement.
"Relief is definitely needed for tip earners, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon."
Less than five months before the presidential election, Trump has lost his marginal leads in two key battleground states.
According to the VoteHub tracker, which aggregates the averages of polls by highly rated pollsters in the past 28 days, Trump is now behind Biden in Michigan and Wisconsin for the first time during this election cycle.
In March, Biden trailed Trump by 3.7 percentage points in Michigan, the voting tracker showed. The president took the lead in May, claiming a 1-percentage point lead over his Republican rival. This has now declined as of June but Biden still has a slim lead.
Trump has seemingly also lost support in Wisconsin. In late May, a Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey of 4,962 registered voters in seven swing states showed Trump narrowly leading in the state by 47 percent to 46 percent.
According to VoteHub, Biden is ahead in Wisconsin by a slim margin. Trump attracted criticism last week when he reportedly made negative comments about Milwaukee, Wisconsin's most populous city. Experts have suggested that these comments may affect the Republican's chances of success in the state.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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