ridiculed Donald Trump As a “communist”, Kamala Harris Trump is leaning into his crude populism as he is touting his credentials as a capitalist, attacked by Harris as a rich kid who got $400 million “served on a silver platter” from his father.
Both presidential candidates are set to deliver fiery speeches on Wednesday that reflect how they are refining their economic messages for voters in battleground states. Both are trying to respond to criticisms against them while also making their best case to a public still concerned about the health of the economy.
Vice President Harris is scheduled to speak at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, where she plans to emphasize a “pragmatic” philosophy while outlining new policies to boost domestic manufacturing, according to a senior campaign official who requested anonymity to describe the upcoming address. The Democratic candidate’s comments come after she told a stellar audience of donors in New York City on Sunday that she would eliminate any “red tape” that stifles growth.
Former President Trump is scheduled to give a speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina, in which he will explain how he will protect workers. The Republican candidate has built his reputation as a businessman, but recently he has expressed a desire to crack down on businesses and has proposed limiting interest rates on credit cards and imposing a 200% tariff on tractor maker John Deere if it moves any jobs to Mexico.
Both candidates are emphasizing the economy at a time when polls show it is one of the most important issues to voters as they consider who to support. A recent AP-NORC poll found that neither candidate has a decisive lead among the public on the issue.
Both are eager to build their image as tax cut advocates and accuse each other of supporting massive tax hikes on the middle class. It’s a significant shift in messaging as inflation concerns have eased somewhat with the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark interest rate last week.
Billionaire Mark Cuban said business leaders like him are backing Harris because she has taken thoughtful stances that companies can understand, even if their viewpoints differ.
“I want a president who has a detailed understanding of business and who has a policy team that understands all of the consequences of what is being proposed,” Cuban said Tuesday in a call with reporters hosted by the Harris campaign.
Trump initially stressed the importance of increasing oil production and cutting corporate tax rates and maintaining tax breaks for the wealthy to boost economic growth. But in recent days, he has been floating a number of other ideas. In addition to no taxes on tips, Social Security or overtime pay, he wants to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10% and set up low-tax zones on federal land to lure employers. Trump also wants to eliminate limits on the deduction of state and local taxes that he inserted into the tax code in 2017 while he was president.
“No longer will Americans have to worry about losing their jobs to foreign countries; instead, foreign countries will have to worry about losing their jobs to America,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt said in a statement.
Both candidates are looking for an opportunity to knock each other’s tax ideas. Trump recently dubbed Harris the “tax queen.” She wants to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% as well as tax unrealized capital gains for people worth more than $100 million. She would use the revenue from this and other policies to maintain tax cuts for the middle class that are set to expire after 2025 as well as provide new tax breaks to parents and entrepreneurs. Many of her policies are based on ideas initially proposed by President Joe Biden.
Trump claims his tax hikes will ultimately impact the middle class.
“She’s coming for your money,” he told an audience on Monday. “She’s coming for your pension, and she’s coming for your savings.”
Harris has shown that two people can play this game. She dubbed her call for tariffs a “national sales tax,” because it could raise the price of coffee, clothing, electronics, autos and nearly everything else that is imported or relies on imported parts. Her campaign likes to cite an analysis by Brendan Duke of the Center for American Progress that estimated a 20% universal tariff would cost a typical family about $4,000 a year. For middle-income taxpayers, that amount would effectively increase their total federal taxes by 50%, according to calculations based on Treasury Department data.
Speaking in Georgia on Tuesday, Trump singled out the word “tariff” for praise, calling it “one of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.” He said it would raise hundreds of billions in tax revenue and not cause inflation.
Most economic analyses say that widespread tariffs would lead to further inflation. Investment bank Goldman Sachs suggested that tariffs and a crackdown on immigration to the US would hurt growth.
Harris has made uplifting the middle class her top priority, often talking about her own background in the middle class, suggesting that her views stem from a personal journey.
But at an event in New York City on Sunday, he also took aim at corporations that want less drama when dealing with the government.
“We will create a stable business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road,” Harris said. “We will invest in semiconductors, clean energy, and other industries of the future. And we will eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and unnecessary red tape, all of which will create jobs, boost broad economic growth, and strengthen America’s leadership around the world.”