Former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused his Democratic rival Kamala Harris of being a “copycat” after she pledged to end federal taxes on tips for service workers this weekend.
The vice president and Democratic presidential nominee announced the proposal, which mirrors one made by Trump earlier this year, during a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday. “When I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” Harris said.
Trump immediately reacted to the proposal accusing Harris of copying his policy idea. “Kamala Harris, whose ‘Honeymoon’ period is ENDING, and is starting to get hammered in the Polls, just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy,” the former president wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
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“The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes! This was a TRUMP idea—She has no ideas, she can only steal from me,” he added.
In another post, he accused the vice president of having “no imagination, whatsoever, as shown by the fact that she played ‘COPYCAT’ with, NO TAXES ON TIPS!”
Trump introduced his policy proposal during a campaign stop in Las Vegas on June 9. “This is the first time I’ve said this, and 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 [are] making,” the former president told the crowd at the rally.
“We’re going to do that right away first thing in office because it’s been a point of contention for years and years and years, and you do a great job of service.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., echoed his father’s comments, sharing a video of Harris’ announcement during the Saturday rally and writing on X, formerly Twitter: “Harris-Walz 2024: Stolen proposals and stolen valor!”
But the idea of ending federal taxes on tips isn’t new and didn’t start with Trump. In 2012, former Representative Ron Paul, a Republican who sought the party’s nomination for president in 2008 and 2012, announced his own plan to end federal taxation of tips. In an op-ed for the Las Vegas Sun, Paul called for a break on the “sector of American workers who are often overlooked by both sides during the never-ending debate on taxes.”
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Paul could not go further with his plan as the Republican nomination in 2012 was given to Mitt Romney, who lost the election to Barack Obama.
Newsweek contacted Trump’s and Harris’ 2024 campaign teams for comment by email on Sunday morning, outside of standard working hours.
The idea to eliminate federal taxes on tips for service workers is likely to appeal to voters in the swing state of Nevada, where thousands of casino employees depend on gratuities.
Despite reported skepticism from labor leaders, the proposal has gathered bipartisan support, with Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Nevada’s Democratic Representatives Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen having expressed their backing for the policy idea.
According to data from Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight, Harris currently leads in polls in Nevada with 44.6 percent of the vote against Trump’s 42.9 percent.