Five days before Election Day, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow appeared “in his personal capacity” on a Trump campaign phone call on Thursday to tout third-quarter economic growth, slam Democratic nominee Joe Biden, and promise new tax cuts if President Trump wins reelection.
Predicting “strong” fourth-quarter growth, Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, said, “Our preliminary estimate is between 5-10%.”
The Commerce Department reported third-quarter GDP at a 33.1% annual rate on Thursday.
On the call, Kudlow promised lower taxes in a second Trump term and said the president was already “preparing a middle-class tax cut.”
He said that estimates from Stanford University’s conservative-leaning Hoover Institution detail how Biden’s “proposals on higher taxes, takeovers of the healthcare sector, and a virtual takeover of the energy sector” would lead to economic losses.
“I would not change horse in midstream,” he added.
The Hatch Act prohibits most federal officials from engaging in campaign activities, a boundary that ethics groups have accused Trump officials of breaching.
New coronavirus cases have spiked nationally, reaching a record-high this week. Hospitalization rates have also climbed.
The latest surge has hit states in the Midwest particularly hard, such as in Michigan, where cases now exceed levels reported during March and April.
Pointing to “some of the hot spots in the upper Midwest and the Plains states,” Kudlow said, “We will stress masking, we will stress distancing, good hygiene.”
A national shutdown “would end the recovery,” he added.
Parts of Europe have also seen major new outbreaks, with mandatory curfews announced across the continent.
“I feel sorry for Europe,” Kudlow said, “but I don’t think the shutdowns are going to help them.”
