Trump Had ‘Booming Economy’ During His Presidency

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who appeared in her personal capacity, responded to analysis that 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic plans will increase the deficit by stating that under 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s administration, “the deficit exploded, in a time of economic prosperity.” And “what Trump did was, somehow, he managed to explode the deficit, even in the middle of a booming economy.”

Co-host Sara Eisen asked, “[T]he nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that her plans would increase the federal budget deficits by 1.7 trillion. Now, neither party is really talking about fiscal responsibility, but the last thing we need now is to add to already very high deficits at a time of low unemployment. Does the party not care about that anymore?”

Raimondo answered, “Of course we do. But, honestly, I find it laughable that anyone would criticize Democrats about the deficit, when it was Donald Trump who exploded the deficit with his reckless tax cuts, which did nothing to improve productivity or the economy, and, in fact, under his leadership, the deficit exploded, in a time of economic prosperity. Every business owner — as I used to be — every governor, every president knows, in good times, that’s when you want to save and bring down the deficit. So, what Trump did was, somehow, he managed to explode the deficit, even in the middle of a booming economy. So, we know we can’t trust him. What you’ve seen from President Biden and what you’ll see from President Harris, they will work with Congress to make investments, make investments in America and infrastructure and job training and also be responsible about it to make sure it doesn’t balloon the deficit.”