Gary Cohn.Twitter/Good Morning America
Gary Cohn, the chief White House economic adviser, said Thursday that he “can’t guarantee” middle-income families won’t pay more in taxes under the new Republican tax proposal.
“I can’t guarantee anything. You can always find a unique family somewhere,” Cohn told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired Thursday morning. Cohn said the tax proposal was “purely aimed at middle-class families.”
Key details of the plan have yet to be ironed out, but some experts have said that under the plan, wealthier Americans can expect larger tax cuts than middle- and lower-class Americans. A New York Times assessment of the tax plan concluded that President Donald Trump would likely have his taxes slashed, while lower-income Americans who don’t pay federal income tax would not see any benefits, and some middle-class families could actually see their taxes increase.
Cohn initially seemed to dodge a question about whether he could guarantee Trump would not benefit financially from his tax plan.
“George, when we’ve looked at the tax plan and we’ve looked at what it does for Americans, we are very confident that Americans are getting a great deal here,” Cohn said. “We have designed a tax plan that is a stimulant for the economy where we are giving tax cuts to middle- and lower-class Americans.”
After Stephanopoulos pressed Cohn, the economic adviser then insisted: “The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan.”
Watch part of the interview below:
“The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan.” – Pres. Trump’s top Economic Adviser Gary Cohn to @GStephanopoulos on new tax plan pic.twitter.com/QYv7kItcas
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 28, 2017