New York lawmaker Alex Bores is facing backlash online after proposing a bill that would place a 100% state income tax on New Yorkers who receive money from the recently announced anti-weaponization fund. The Assemblymember unveiled the proposal on Tuesday in a video shared on X, which has now amassed more than 1.4 million views as of the time of writing.
“Today, I introduce the New York Anti-Insurrectionist Act,” Bores stated in the video. “If you’re a New Yorker and you take from this illegal slush fund, New York State will tax 100% of it.”
On May 18, the Department of Justice announced that a $1.8 billion fund would be created as part of a settlement involving President Donald Trump, members of his family, the Trump Organization, and the IRS over the leak of their confidential tax records. According to the DOJ, the fund is meant to compensate individuals who say they were unfairly targeted by the government. However, Bores claimed it was essentially “a slush fund created by a lawless president for his insurrectionist followers.”
The Democrat alleged the fund could be used to “pay off” Trump supporters who were involved in the January 6 Capitol riot. He also denounced the arrangement as “pure corruption” and dared any rioter to go ahead and receive the money, saying, “we’re taking it.”
Critics Slam New York Lawmaker’s Proposal
The reactions under Bores’ post were heavily negative, with many netizens finding his proposal problematic. “So people who were targeted by weaponized government shouldn’t get any help?” one person asked. Another wrote, “This fund is for people who were attacked by weaponized government and you want to weaponize government to make sure that the unjustly persecuted aren’t made whole.”
A third commented, “Oh so you’re running for office AND threatening to tax us peasants even more than we already are ?? check yourself.” A fourth wondered, “So many things wrong with NY and this is what your focus is?”
Someone else added, “I’m so glad I’ll never be in a position of power. There would be a lot less people like this roaming about.”
A few people, however, supported the bill, with one comment reading, “Makes perfect sense. Rewarding criminals for acts of violence is never okay.”
It remains unclear whether the proposed legislation has enough support to advance through the New York State Legislature. Meanwhile, Bores is currently running for a seat in the U.S. Congress.
