Trump sent his top economic advisers to defend his executive orders and the result was chaos, confusion, and disaster.
Larry Kudlow seemed to have no idea how much money unemployed people would be getting:
BASH: You keep saying $1,200 per person. Are you talking about in addition to the unemployment that they’re already getting?
KUDLOW: Oh, no.
BASH: Where does that number come from?
KUDLOW: That’s the payroll — I’m sorry. I beg your pardon. The $1,200 will come from the payroll tax deferral on top of this.
BASH: OK. We’re going to get to that. OK, all right, because this is — there’s a lot of numbers here, and it’s a little confusing.
(CROSSTALK)
KUDLOW: Yes, I’m sorry. It should be…
BASH: I want to get to payroll tax in a minute. Go ahead.
KUDLOW: It should be 800 bucks. I beg your pardon. It should be 800 bucks for the unemployment.
BASH: Eight hundred or $400?
KUDLOW: No, it should be $400 — it should be $800.
If the states step up, we’re prepared to match. That should be — come out $400 federal, $400 states.
BASH: OK. We will move on, because I think this is — that’s not what the president said, and it’s a bit confusing. And I think the fact that it’s not entirely known is very telling.
Video:
Larry Kudlow seems to be very confused about how much money unemployed people would actually receive under Trump’s proposal pic.twitter.com/KampXT6N7I
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 9, 2020
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was claiming that it is possible to cut or eliminate the payroll tax and not harm Social Security and Medicare:
Steve Mnuchin claims that Trump can cut or eliminate the payroll tax and not harm Social Security and Medicare, which is a total lie. pic.twitter.com/Lc8zzCMHm0
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 9, 2020
On Meet The Press, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro admitted that the executive orders are guidance and not policy.
The Trump economic team was sent on to the Sunday shows to defend executive orders that they can’t explain. They don’t appear to know what the executive orders will do, and they seem to admit that Trump’s actions have little ability to change anything.
If this was supposed to be the push to shift the political blame to Democrats, it was a debacle, and likely will do nothing to help Trump’s terrible polling in his reelection race against Joe Biden.
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Mr. Easley is the founder/managing editor and Senior White House and Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association