On Saturday night, Vice President Kamala Harris promised to abolish tax on tips for service workers if she wins the election in November.
Her announcement triggered howls of outrage from Donald Trump who accused her of stealing his idea after he made the same promise in June, when a server in Nevada told him she felt the government was taking too big a share of her tips.
But an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com shows why Harris won’t care about charges of theft: The policy is overwhelmingly popular with voters.
Almost two thirds of likely voters say they support the idea.
And it is popular across all demographics and groups. Trump voters, white voters, Hispanic voters, Harris voters, the young and the old, graduates and non-graduates all support the idea of abolishing tax on tips.
J.L. Partners polled 1054 likely voters from Aug 8 to 9. It found that Donald Trump’s two signature tax proposals are wildly popular
That sentiment minimizes any blowback from copying an opponent’s proposal, said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners which conducted the poll of 1054 likely voters last week.
‘Turns out there’s a reason Harris stole Trump’s tax tip policy: It’s barnstormingly popular with the public.
‘It gets support among every age group, gender and race, regardless of political affiliation. For America’s public they look at the idea and think it’s a no brainer.
‘If Trump had kept it for himself, he would have been able to use it as a genuine electoral asset. Now, its relevance has been sprung from the race.’
Trump’s two tax big proposals are hugely popular. Abolishing tax on tips and on Social Security payments are the sort of populist moves that have resonated with voters, even if economists warn they would leave a black hole in federal finances.
On Saturday, a day after the Culinary Workers Union endorsed Harris, she used a rally at the University of Nevada (a state where tipped staff could hold balance of power) to announce she was following in Trump’s footsteps.
‘It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue to fight for working families, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,’ she said.
The move is not without problems.
A campaign official later said it would mean working with Congress to introduce legislation that would set income limits on tax-free tips, and prevent other workers structuring their pay to try to take advantage.
Brazen Kamala Harris STEALS one of Trump’s flagship policies
The policies are popular with voters across all groups
Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump on Saturday held duelling rallies. Harris used hers to promise to end tax on tips for service industry workers
Trump slammed Harris on his Truth Social website, saying the proposal as a ‘Trump idea’
MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump Super PAC, is offering stickers to promote Donald Trump’s new pledge to lift taxes on tips. It comes after diners shared receipts on which they had written in support of the policy to help workers who rely on gratuities
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance signs the check ‘no tax on tips!!’ as he leaves $200 in cash for a gratuity at the Park Diner, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Waite Park, Minn.
Even so, Trump quickly took to social media to slam Harris for stealing his idea.
‘The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes!’ he wrote, using his idiosyncratic style of capitalization.’
‘This was a TRUMP idea – She has no ideas, she can only steal from me.’
Harris has leapt ahead of Trump in the polls after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. A rolling average of surveys maintained by the statistics website FiveThirtyEight gives her lead of more than two points over her Republican opponent.
She has also moved ahead of him on betting markets. Oddspedia reported Monday that the numbers give her a 52.4 percent chance of victory, against his 47.6 percent.
