Former President Donald Trump took to social media late Saturday night to claim that he came up with an idea to end taxes on tips despite another Republican candidate proposing such a policy over a decade ago.
Trump, in a rant on his Truth Social platform, called Vice President Kamala Harris a “COPYCAT” and shared a screenshot of a right-wing social media account that accused her of having “plagiarized directly” from him.
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At a Las Vegas rally on Saturday, the Democratic presidential nominee promised to eliminate taxes on tips paid to service and hospitality workers, which her GOP rival similarly proposed back in June.
“This was a TRUMP idea – She has no ideas, she can only steal from me,” the former president claimed in one post.
He continued in another post, “Kamala has no imagination, whatsoever, as shown by the fact that she played ‘COPYCAT’ with, NO TAXES ON TIPS!”
The alleged “TRUMP idea” arrives years after ex-Republican presidential candidate and former Rep. Ron Paul, in a January 2012 op-ed for the Las Vegas Sun, called it an “outrage” that wait staff and other service workers had to pay taxes on tips they earned on the clock.
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The ex-Texas lawmaker, in 2007 and years thereafter, introduced legislation in Congress that looked to exempt tips from federal income and payroll taxes.
“That’s because I understand ending taxes on tips will give these workers a pay raise, letting them keep more money to put toward things like a house or car payment, their retirement, or their own and/or their children’s education,” Paul wrote in the 2012 op-ed.
Congressional records also show that at least one other lawmaker has called for no taxes on tips, as former Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.) pushed the proposal back in 1982.
HuffPost reached out to the Trump campaign, which was not immediately available for comment.
Trump, at a Las Vegas rally in June, declared that hotel workers and others who are paid tips would be “very happy,” as he vowed to not have taxes on tips should he win the presidential election.
“We’re not going to do it and 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,” he said.
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“And 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.”
Trump’s comments came over a week before Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), along with other GOP lawmakers in both the Senate and Congress, backed legislation in June that looks to exempt tips from being taxed.
Both Trump and Harris would likely need the help of Congress to follow through on their pledges, The Associated Press noted.
