Lady Gaga might be firmly behind a progressive candidate, but her father took to Fox News to fawn over Donald Trump's "No Tax on Tips" proposal.
Among Trump's promises is that tips should not be taxed, a proposal that Vice President Kamala Harris has also pitched.
Speaking to Fox, Joe Germanotta said, "75% of their income comes from tips. Effectively, Donald Trump is giving them a raise...I think it's a great thing all around. I think the president was brilliant in throwing this on the table."
Read also: Why Trump won't reveal his personal finances before Debate Day
Germanotta owns Joanne Trattoria in New York and has supported Trump for years, despite the ex-president's bizarre comments about his daughter, including: "Lady Gaga — is not too good."
"I could tell you stories about Lady Gaga. I know a lot of stories about Lady Gaga," Trump said of the singer's support for Joe Biden in November 2020.
Trump's and Harris' respective taxes on tips plan differ in that Harris's goes beyond mere tips; she argues for raising the minimum wage.
“It is my promise to everyone here: When I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” she told one crowd.
Abdallah Fayyad explained for Vox that the policy is a tax cut for big businesses.
“I’m not at all saying that workers won’t get anything,” said Economic Policy Institute president Heidi Shierholz, speaking to Fayyad. “But I think that a meaningful share of the [federal] expenditures on a tax exemption like this will go to the employers of tipped workers.”
One of the ongoing battles over the minimum wage is that it's different from the "minimum tipped wage." The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, while the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour, the Department of Labor explains.
Shierholz pointed out that lobbyists for restaurant owners like Germanotta are pushing such legislation and she thinks that's why.
The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 sounded the alarm on the issue.
"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," said Secretary-Treasurer and former president Ted Pappageorge.
See the interview below or at the link here.
