IRS data challenges Walz’s claim that Trump tax cuts ‘predominantly went to the top guys’

On the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate stage Tuesday night, Democratic nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz claimed that the Trump-era tax cuts “predominantly went to the top guys” and benefited America’s wealthy. 

However, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data shows that’s not true.

“Donald Trump made a promise, and I’ll give you this, he kept it. He took books to Mar-a-Lago, said: ‘you’re rich as hell, I’m going to give you a tax cut…’ What happened? There was an $8 trillion increase in the national debt, the largest ever. Now he’s proposing a 20% consumption or sales tax on everything we bring in. Everyone agrees, including businesses, it would be destabilizing. It would increase inflation and potentially lead to a recession,” Walz said.

According to a September 2020 report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, middle income Americans are the ones who saw the “biggest decrease in total tax liability” between 2017 and 2018 when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect.

The data additionally notes that Americans with annual incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 saw tax liability drop twice as much as Americans who make $1 million or more.

HEIGHTENED ‘SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE’ AS VANCE, WALZ FACE OFF IN VP DEBATE

The Senate committee explains that total tax liability includes federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, self-employment income and tax applicable to individual retirement arrangements (IRAs).

“Tim admirably admits that they want to undo the Trump tax cuts. But if you look at what was so different about Donald Trump’s tax cuts, even from previous Republican tax cut plans, is that a lot of those resources went to giving more take-home pay to middle class and working class Americans,” Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said in response to Walz.

“I think you got a tough job here,” Vance continued, “because you’ve got to play whack-a-mole. You’ve got to pretend that Donald Trump didn’t deliver rising take-home pay, which of course he did. You’ve got to pretend that Donald Trump didn’t deliver lower inflation, which of course he did. And then you simultaneously got to defend Kamala Harris’ atrocious economic record, which has made gas, groceries and housing unaffordable for American citizens.”

“Well, Kamala Harris’ Day One was Donald Trump’s failure on COVID that led to the collapse of our economy,” Walz rebutted. “‘Economists can’t be trusted.’ ‘Science can’t be trusted.’ ‘National security folks can’t be trusted.’ Look, if you’re going to be president, you don’t have all the answers. Donald Trump believes he does. My pro tip of the day is this: if you need heart surgery, listen to the people at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, not Donald Trump. And the same thing goes with this, and I ask you out there, teachers, nurses, truck drivers, whatever: How is it fair that you’re paying your taxes every year, and Donald Trump hasn’t paid any federal tax in the last 15 years?”

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Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate have better personal favorability ratings than former President Trump and his vice-presidential pick, according to the latest Fox News polling.

Walz is the only candidate that voters view more favorably than unfavorably (+3 points). While Harris’ ratings are net negative by 2 points, her 49% favorable is her highest in over three years. Trump is underwater by 8 points and Vance by 12. About 1 in 6 are unfamiliar with Walz and Vance.

While Democrats and Republicans have largely positive views of their candidates, each individual tested is underwater when it comes to the small subgroup of independents. By a 6-point margin, fewer Republicans have a favorable view of Vance than Democrats have of Walz.

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Fox News staff contributed to this report.