Former President Donald Trump vowed Sunday during a campaign stop in Nevada to stop the IRS from classifying restaurant tips as taxable income, sending a clear overture to the swing state’s huge pool of hospitality workers.
Mr. Trump said the change in federal tax law is long overdue.
“When I get to office, we are not going to charge taxes on tips — people making tips,” Mr. Trump said at a campaign rally in Las Vegas. “We are not going to do it, and we are going to do it right away.”
“It has been a point of contention for years and years and years, and you do a great job of service, you take care of people and I think it is going to be something that is really deserved,” said the former president whose pre-political life included building, investing in and branding with numerous casinos and other high-end service businesses.
The rally at Sunset Park was Mr. Trump’s first since being found guilty of 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
The verdict has not shaken the confidence of his supporters, including the horde of attendees who turned out Sunday in scorching temperatures and at one point serenaded the soon-to-be 78-year-old with an impromptu singing of “Happy Birthday.”
Still, the jury is out on whether the convictions will help or hurt him with slices of the broader electorate
Mr. Trump is trying to become the first Republican to carry Nevada in a presidential race since George W. Bush in 2004.
“If we win Nevada, we win the whole thing,” Mr. Trump said Sunday.
Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump in Nevada by 2 percentage points four years ago thanks in part to the strong support he received from the powerful Culinary Union Local 226, a heavily-minority group representing hotel, casino and restaurant workers.
This go-round Mr. Trump has held a steady lead in Nevada polls and his campaign is optimistic about his chances of making inroads with Hispanic voters, who play a major role in Silver State elections.
In a statement Sunday, the Culinary Union derided Mr. Trump’s “wild campaign promise.”
“For decades, the Culinary Union has fought for tipped workers’ rights and against unfair taxation. 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,” Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said.
At the rally, Mr. Trump said the Biden border “nightmare” is hurting American workers across the country — particularly minority workers — and weakening unions.
“They are destroying our Black population, they are totally destroying our Hispanic population and you know what else they are destroying?” Mr. Trump said. “They are killing unions because the unions are not able to survive.”
Mr. Trump’s post-conviction message has mirrored his pre-conviction message.
He casts a Biden victory in apocalyptic terms, warning it would increase the prospect of a nuclear war.
A CBS You Gov poll released over the weekend found Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump running neck-and-neck in battleground states.
Mr. Biden has struggled to generate a lot of excitement around his bid, but he continues to benefit from the depth of the anti-Trump sentiment that helped power him to victory four years ago.
More than half of Mr. Biden’s supporters in the CBS poll said the chief reason they plan to vote for him is to oppose Mr. Trump.
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