The most outrageous proposal yet?
Michigan Lieutenant Governor, who’s running for governor in 2026, floated a plan to hit back at some of the Trump administration’s spending cuts and pump more money into the state government’s coffers: raise taxes on the wealthiest Trump supporters.
In a video obtained by The Daily Wire, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist told a group of Democrats earlier this month that the Trump administration has “attacked our people” by cutting funding to universities and “attacking those of us who are getting our health care from Medicaid.”
Gilchrist made the remarks during a video call with the Kent County, Michigan, Democrat Party on August 13 as he gears up for a competitive Democratic primary in the 2026 Michigan governor’s race.
“We’re going to fight back and say, ‘Hell no, we’re not going to accept that,’” Gilchrist added. “And frankly, it pisses me off that we don’t have enough money in Michigan to be able to afford to backfill this $1.1 billion hole we’ve blown in the budget. I know how we could get a little bit more of that money — if we actually tax the wealthiest mega MAGA rich people in this state … if we actually went after the biggest companies that got a tax cut from [former Republican Governor] Rick Snyder and the Republicans.”
Watch:
It’s important to note that raising taxes on some people based on their political leanings wouldn’t be possible and would run into numerous legal issues if it were even attempted.
The Daily Wire noted that Gilchrist’s suggestion to hit wealthy Trump supporters with higher taxes is also a questionable political tactic, given that Michigan is a swing state that President Trump won in both 2016 and 2024.
The $1.1 billion figure referenced by Gilchrist refers to a report released last month by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, which claims that because of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” the state will have to come up with a massive chunk of money to make up for Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food benefits, according to Bridge Michigan. The report stated that Michigan “will need to cut around $1.1 billion in General Fund/General Purpose appropriations from the FY2026 Executive Budget proposal.”
Republican state Rep. Ann Bollin, however, told The Daily Wire that the House has put forward a plan that incorporates all of the federal guidelines under the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” such as the work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP, without putting the state in a financial hole.
“We have managed to build a budget that takes into account what those federal requirements are,” Bollin said. “Those federal requirements are not extensive. I mean, they are work requirements. That is not a high threshold.”
She added that it’s good for the Trump administration to implement work requirements for programs like SNAP, saying that “Michigan has to address its very high SNAP error rate,” and root out fraud.
The Gilchrist campaign has not revealed how much Gilchrist wants to raise taxes on Michigan’s wealthiest Trump supporters.
READ NEXT: Inside UNA’s Two-Year Plan To Disguise DEI Before State Law Banned It
Cut all the perks for the politicians