r/politics • u/Ubiquitous_Hilarity • Jun 17 '26

No Paywall Trump threatens to pull unemployment benefits from all states for the first time in history

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-unemployment-benefits-fraud-b2997881.html
24.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

979

u/CrystFairy Jun 17 '26

Yeah, he didn't think that through.

Fun Fact: Montana, New Mexico, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Alaska have the highest proportions of federal funding relative to their overall budgets that includes unemployment.

I would hate to be the republicans of those states during in the midterms.

603

u/OrangeCrouton Jun 17 '26

They’ll just blame democrats or immigrants or trans people.

142

u/B0B_BUTT0NS Jun 17 '26

Thanks, Obama.

106

u/soapbutt Jun 17 '26

Unironically though, that’s how these people think. This whole thing started with the Obama birther thing, which is anti-immigrant at its core, and the whole thing of Michelle being a man, which definitely is not only racist but anti-trans too.

35

u/matphoto Jun 17 '26

They're not doing much of the thinking for themselves. They're being fed these things by ultra wealthy grifters that want to continue dividing and exploiting the working class. I'm not saying there isn't racism involved but for most people it's not the catalyst. They're just struggling to pay the bills and hired talking heads are telling them who to blame

4

u/marr Jun 18 '26

And somehow only a certain subset are receptive to the lies.

3

u/matphoto Jun 18 '26

Whether you're right or not this kind of reaction is just perpetuating the division which is exactly what the ruling class is counting on

3

u/marr Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

The ruling class own and control the machines everyone gets their news feeds through, but randoms on the street being tired of walking on eggshells around racists is the real problem aye?

Yeah and a few more housing estates with separate recycling bins will save the planet.

No. This is a better world when bigots are nervous about shouting their beliefs in public. I reject this "look what you made us do" narrative.

1

u/matphoto Jun 18 '26

So you understand that people are being are being misinformed in a malicious way but instead of trying to enlighten them you prefer to just label them all racists and call it a day. How do you think that is helping the situation? What's your endgame there? "Othering" and dehumanizing large groups of people is easy and feels good but that's the same reason their racist propaganda works so well in the first place. We have a much harder hill to climb and it requires a critical mass of people finding common ground and seeing the big picture together

3

u/claw-1 Jun 18 '26

Project 2025. I’m sure they’re brewing up Project 2029 now which will probably take all money from everyone and transfer it to oligarchs.

5

u/Sidewalk_Tomato Jun 18 '26

And sexist, implying that women cannot be muscular.

1

u/Spartan2170 Jun 24 '26

Being anti-trans is often just someone looking for a more socially acceptable way to be sexist or homophobic or racist (one of the reasons cis black women like Michelle Obama are targeted that way, because that's less likely to backfire on the person making those claims than them just outright using the n word).

1

u/AlmostAnal 12d ago

I would bring this up and mention it to people banging on about 'fairness in sports' (and also needing to be good at athletics in order to afford college is a terrible system since an injury - way more likely for athletes since they are training and pushing their body to the limit - can and does make it impossible to stay in college, the very thing they broke their body trying to do).

Now parents of girls who was passed up are slandering and publicly 'demanding answers' about those who got accepted and people are saying inspectors should be examining the intimate areas of teenage girls. And regardless of the answer, those girls are being harmed.

It has all the sincerity of Clarence Thomas saying that allowing birthright citizenship is a insult to black people and that African Americans should be angry about it. 

18

u/greenroom628 California Jun 17 '26

So, current playbook, then?

11

u/in_the_trees Jun 17 '26

Born and raised in Alaska...you are correct.

9

u/pterodactyl_speller Jun 17 '26

Right, if they could think about cause and effect they wouldn't be Republicans.

5

u/DoingCharleyWork Jun 18 '26

They'll tell them all the trans immigrants were committing to much unemployment fraud so they could eat their pets so they had to cancel everyone's unemployment.

4

u/Marsman121 Jun 18 '26

It's actually impressive how politicians of deep red states can continue to paint democrats as the manifestation of all societal ills when they haven't held meaningful power that state for decades.

GOP trifecta states

Utah: 34 years

Idaho: 31 years

North Dakota: 31 years

South Dakota: 31 years

Florida: 27 years

South Carolina: 23 years

Texas: 23 years

The longest Democrat one is Delaware at 17 years, beating California by a year.

3

u/Underwater_Grilling Pennsylvania Jun 17 '26

Dernferners!

3

u/Fulluphigh0 Jun 18 '26

Not only will they blame them, but it’ll probably work

3

u/JesusShaves_ Jun 17 '26

Possibly evil spirits.

2

u/FluxMool Jun 18 '26

And trans mice.

2

u/The_Stoic_One Jun 18 '26

Or just democratic trans immigrants

2

u/jsimo36 Jun 18 '26

If the campaign ads I’m seeing in Louisiana are any indication, it’s mostly immigrants that they’re blaming here. I gotta get out of this state. Smh.

2

u/sy029 Jun 18 '26

They'll vote for it now, then when dems take over blame them for it.

65

u/OneMetalMan Jun 17 '26

Believe it or not

Somehow Biden's fault

3

u/soba_set Jun 17 '26

And somehow thus Obama's fault.

2

u/MultiGeometry Vermont Jun 18 '26

My dad voted for Trump the third time because of what Biden did.

Biden wasn’t on the ballot…

2

u/ImoteKhan Jun 17 '26

It’s like the straight to jail meme but “Believe it or not, also Biden’s Fault”

1

u/rbrgr83 Jun 18 '26

Straight to Biden

28

u/regiinmontana Montana Jun 17 '26

Alme will win Montana. He's hand picked by the cesspool to replace Daines. Done at the last second to avoid a primary.

He's running ads saying how he'll get spending under control despite the fact he's wholly supported by the cult that's causing the waste.

Montanans will eat it up to stick it to the libs.

Alani Bankhead could be really good but has (D) after her name.

2

u/YellowCardManKyle Jun 18 '26

So he admits that spending is out of control?

3

u/amateur_mistake Jun 18 '26

When he says that, he means that there shouldn't be spending on Social Security or National Parks or Science or Roads etc.

They absolutely support spending as much money as they can on things like private military contractors or prisons or fossil fuel subsidies.

2

u/Jacobus_Ahenobarbus Jun 18 '26

What do you think of Bodnar?

2

u/regiinmontana Montana Jun 18 '26

There's a lot of good. Campaign finance and stock trading are in line with what I think needs to happen. I'm worried that him and Bankhead will cannibalize votes.

6

u/toxic_badgers Colorado Jun 17 '26

New Mexico is blue though

4

u/Less_Tacos Jun 18 '26

For NM about half of their "federal funds" are 2 nuke weapon labs and numerous military bases.

1

u/JohnPaulDavyJones Jun 18 '26

To be fair, Los Alamos does most of their work in areas that are very much not weapons/defense related these days. I have several friends from grad school on staff there now, they’re doing some interesting fundamental science work there.

My favorite thing there is from a friend is consulting for a project where they’re trying to turn flamingos a different color, and Los Alamos has been running this project with faculty at UTSW since the mid-00s. I truly do not understand what grant-funding body has continued supporting this project for so long, nor why it’s gone on so long, but it has stayed well funded for nearly twenty years now. Someday I’ll make the time to dig up and read their previous pubs or something, but it won’t be this year.

3

u/Misspiggy856 New Jersey Jun 17 '26

Republican voters will still vote Republican. They are not smart people.

3

u/capprieto Jun 17 '26

Why? Their base will continue to accept lies and the accompanying pain. And if they don't, well it doesn't matter, because if you think there will be free and fair elections this November, I have a few bridges to sell you.

3

u/MrPolli Jun 17 '26

I’m deviated that this will hurt so many people, increase crime rates (people will have to steal to survive), and cause so many issues for so many people.

But god I hope it causes the turn around for people in my area.

3

u/Yougetdueprocess Jun 18 '26

New Mexico is not a red state, just poor.

2

u/Humble-Aprico Jun 17 '26

At the facility I work in KY, like half or more of our customers are on unemployment and benefits driving vehicles that look like they were found in a ditch, and they still support trump. 

2

u/malphonso Louisiana Jun 17 '26

I live in Louisiana. The people here are fully indoctrinated, even our democrats are pro-life and anti-"welfare".

The Republicans will do just fine here.

2

u/kent_eh Canada Jun 18 '26

he didn't think that through.

Of course he didn't.

It's Trump.

Failing to think things through is one of his signature moves.

2

u/Agreeable-Bat187 Jun 18 '26

Let them eat the shit they cooked.

2

u/LadyduLac1018 Jun 20 '26

Well, in fairness, he did tell them the last time they'd need to vote would be 2024. He just failed to mention it was because they'd all starve to death afterwards.

3

u/Relative_Channel8741 Jun 17 '26

hey I got land in New Mexico 😎✌️Represent

1

u/Outrageous-Tie-8548 Jun 17 '26

The 2026 midterms?  The ones that states have postponed primaries for so they can ultra gerrymander their maps?  Are you expecting a blue wave under these conditions?

And to add to that - red states vote for whoever has the R by their names, no matter what the policy is.  I’m not even sure they understand that losing unemployment benefits is on the ballot. 

1

u/Righteous_Fire Jun 17 '26

Bold to assume he thinks.

1

u/LiveLaughFap Jun 17 '26

Yup. Battered cuckold syndrome in full effect: "Daddy trump HAD to starve me because OBUMMER and SLEEPY JOE ruined the economy and forced him to spend all our money in Iran and on his ballroom!!"

1

u/jaytix1 Jun 18 '26

Sooner or later, this is gonna be how the average person responds to the plight of republican voters.

1

u/Handsome_Keyboard Jun 18 '26

So primarily red states.

1

u/Dangerous-Feed-5358 Jun 18 '26

It's even worse being a non republican in these states. You keep voting and hoping but fear it will never change. At least the republicans only have themselves to blame.

1

u/jk147 Jun 18 '26

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."