President Joe Biden mistakenly said Monday that Americans earning less than $400,000 would not pay a “single penny” in taxes.
The president spoke at Tidewater Community College in Virginia on Monday, highlighting his plan to raise taxes significantly on corporations, investment income, and Americans making more than $400,000 to pay for free community college and free childcare for low-income Americans.
Biden appeared to take offense at media reports saying he would raise American’s taxes and dove into a discussion of tax policy.
“I keep hearing in the press, ‘Biden’s going to raise your taxes,'” Biden said. “Anybody making less than $400k a year will not pay a single penny in taxes and we will not increase the deficit either.”
Typically, Biden’s economic officials say Americans earning under $400,000 would not pay a “penny more” in taxes, not zero taxes.
Biden promoted his tax hike as a way to help pay for two years of free community college for “every student in America.”
“Just think about it in terms of what’s better for America … What’s going to grow America more?” he asked.
The president cited first lady Jill Biden’s belief in the importance of investing heavily in community college education and said she would be “deeply involved” with his plan.
“I’ve heard it from Jill 1,000 times,” he said, “‘Joe, any country that out-educates us will out-compete us, and that’s a fact,”
The president also promoted free childcare for low-income families.
“The most hard-pressed working families won’t have to spend a dime. If in fact, my plan works, if you’re low-income folks, you’ll be able to get childcare for free,” he said.