Tim Scott says Biden is 'willing to tank' economy by getting rid of Trump tax cuts

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., criticized President Biden for wanting to let tax cuts passed in 2017 under former President Trump to expire and increase taxes.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., slammed President Biden for being "willing to tank America's economy for no actual purpose" after the president announced his intention to let tax cuts passed under former President Trump expire if Biden is re-elected. 

"The bottom line is a very simple one," Scott told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. "You allow for more than $2.4 trillion of tax cuts to expire, that means you own the largest tax increase on the American people in the history of the country."

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which slashed rates in almost every tax bracket while also decreasing the corporate tax rate, among other things, will expire in part in December 2025. Whether those tax reforms are renewed will depend on who is in the White House and which party controls the House and Senate after the 2024 general election. 

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Scott helped to author the 2017 tax legislation and was a key advocate in its passage. 

"That tax cut is going to expire," Biden wrote on X. "If I’m reelected, it’s going to stay expired."

He claimed the legislation "overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and biggest corporations and exploded the federal debt."

According to Scott, Biden's suggestion that increases in the national debt were a result of the tax cuts is "hogwash."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, "President Trump proudly passed the largest tax cuts for hardworking Americans in history.

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"Joe Biden is proposing the largest tax hike ever, which would take nearly $40,000 dollars away from the average American family who is already losing thousands every year due to Biden's record-high inflation crisis."

Previewing a second Trump presidency, Leavitt said he would seek "more tax cuts for workers, families and all Americans and reinvigorate America's energy industry to bring down inflation, lower the cost of living and pay down our debt." 

As for Biden's claim the tax cuts primarily benefited corporations and wealthy individuals, Scott remarked that the president may not understand the private sector. Biden proposes to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%.

"You're taking America from a mediocre competitive position and then making us uncompetitive, which means that our American companies will then face headwinds, which is only going to devastate our economy more," Scott argued.

According to Scott, any positive macroeconomic indicators that have surfaced during Biden's tenure as president have not been due to his own work. 

"If he has had any benefits coming into office, it's the strength of the economy built under President Trump," Scott said.

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But even these positive signals aren't evidence of Americans doing well under Biden's economy, the South Carolina Republican explained. 

"When you see the stock market doing well, when you see the unemployment rates relatively low, those are indicators, but they're not strong indicators to the health of the economy," he said. 

A stronger indicator, according to Scott, is wage increases in relation to inflation. 

"What we saw for 52 consecutive paychecks was inflation was higher than wage increases, which meant that even with higher income, you still lost spending power," he said. 

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Michael Kikukawa, a spokesperson for the White House, told Fox News Digital Biden's recent post was just repeating the policies already released in his budget. 

"He would let the Trump tax cuts expire for the wealthy, while protecting all Americans making less than $400,000 from any tax increases," Kikukawa said.

"Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for the reckless cliff in the Trump tax cuts. They are the reason taxes are scheduled to increase for the middle class after 2025, and they would raise taxes on middle-class families even more by repealing the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act."

Tax attorney Adam Brewer said Congress will likely "feel significant pressure to extend some of the more popular elements, like higher standard deductions and the 20% qualified business income deduction."  

"If Congress doesn't take action to extend the cuts or pass new tax cuts, then the average American can expect a larger tax bill in Tax Year 2026," Brewer warned.

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Scott further reacted Friday to news Vice President Kamala Harris was going to be embarking on a "Nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour," beginning in Atlanta and Detroit.

The senator, who has made economic development and opportunity a key priority during his time in the upper chamber, laughed, saying, "I hope it's an economic apology tour, apologizing for the impact of Bidenomics."

He added that Harris should apologize for "the impact of a slow economy," high gas prices and high food costs.

"If I were her, I would stay home," Scott said.