Spicer projects confidence after Mnuchin wouldn’t guarantee middle-class tax cut under new plan

Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that Americans should be concerned about how the administration’s new tax plan would affect them, not how it would benefit the Trump family. He also insisted that the plan contains cuts for middle- and low-income earners.

Spicer made the comments during a press briefing where he was asked whether it was fair for Americans to question how the proposed tax plan would personally affect President Trump and his family.

“The president’s plan right now is something that every American should worry hopefully about how it’s going to affect them,” said Spicer. “If you look at the ways this is going to benefit middle-class Americans, middle-income working Americans, and that is the concern of most Americans out there.”

An analysis from the Tax Policy Center of Trump’s plan during the campaign — which the new plan is based on — found that 51 percent of the plan’s benefits would go to the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers. The nonpartisan group also found that the plan would cause a tax increase for middle-income families.

The White House said Wednesday that Trump had no intention of releasing his tax returns, which would help illuminate how the suggested changes would potentially benefit the Trump family’s vast personal fortune. During the campaign, Trump said he would release the returns after an audit was complete, even though the Internal Revenue Service does not prohibit those under audit from releasing that information. The White House plan would eliminate the estate tax, which mainly affects the top 10 percent of income earners.

Spicer also emphasized that the tax cut would benefit middle-class Americans, something press secretary Steve Mnuchin was reluctant to do in an ABC News interview Thursday morning.

“I think everyone in the middle class should know that this president’s plan will make sure they have more in their pocket,” said Spicer.

“The position of the White House is, the goal of this president’s tax plan is to provide [middle-income Americans] and lower-income people with more money in their pocket and a tax cut,” he affirmed when pressed for a guarantee.

Hours earlier, Mnuchin had said that while a tax cut for the middle class was a priority, he couldn’t guarantee it.

“I can’t make any guarantees until this thing is done, and it’s on the president’s desk. But I can tell you, that’s our No. 1 objective in this,” Mnuchin said in a “Good Morning America” interview.

“The details of taxes are very complicated, and we’re committed to working quickly and getting this done,” he later added.

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