On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss said that 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris copying 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s idea for eliminating taxes on tips demonstrates that “Kamala Harris is not an ideologue, she’s a pragmatist, and what she cares about is the impact of policy on people.”
Auchincloss said [relevant remarks begin around 1:00] that when Trump and Harris debate, “Donald Trump will be talking about an 1890s tax plan that would raise taxes on the average American by up to $2,500. Kamala Harris is going to be talking about how we make prescription drugs and housing more affordable. This is about the economy. Kamala Harris has a vision for an economy with more breathing room for the average American, housing, energy, drugs, child care, higher education. Donald Trump is talking about raising taxes on the average middle-class family, while giving further tax cuts to billionaires.”
Host Neil Cavuto then asked, “Well, it is fair to say, though, Congressman, that she wants to keep some of those Trump tax cuts, especially those on the lower to middle-class realm. So, she’s thinking that he had some good ideas there. She is also supporting his efforts to remove the taxes on tips and all that, that is very big in Nevada and for those types of audiences. So, she is kind of copying some of his better ideas, if you call those better ideas. What do you think of it?”
Auchincloss responded, “Well, we can debate the soundness of the tax on tips idea, but I think the…core point is that Kamala Harris is not an ideologue, she’s a pragmatist, and what she cares about is the impact of policy on people. So, show her an idea, and she’s not going to ask, whose idea was it? She’s going to ask, does this idea work?”
Cavuto then cut in to say, “But she does have an ideologue past, and, by the way, so does Donald Trump. So, you’re quite right about that. Ideologue could be seen in the eyes of the beholder, I guess.”
Auchincloss countered, “I reject that. She doesn’t actually. Look at her career as a prosecutor, where she took on sexual predators, where she took on big corporations on behalf of Californians, look at her role as Vice President to Joe Biden. What did we get done in Joe Biden’s first two years? Bipartisan infrastructure law, bipartisan Safer Communities Act to reduce mass shootings, bipartisan Electoral Count Act reform to close the January 6 loophole, which, by the way, Donald Trump will try to steal the election again.”
Cavuto cut in to say, “But she’ll have to separate herself from him on a couple of things, right, Congressman? She’ll have to separate…herself from some of the inflation policies and the rest. That’s going to be a very delicate dance, right?”
After reiterating that Harris isn’t an ideologue, Auchincloss stated that “prices have been higher, but inflation is also down by 70% since its peak in 2022, and we have seen wages go up faster than inflation over the last several years. So, the average family has 900 real dollars more in 2023 than previously. So, yes, prices are high, wages are going up even higher, we have more work to do. I would love to see strong Democratic policies on housing, on prescription drugs, on energy go into effect and to be expanded upon in a Harris administration.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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