Donald Trump’s re-election bid is based on a throwback to Reagan’s 1980s America

Trump wasted no time in referencing Reagan, who was beloved by most old-school Republicans and others, and who appeared to have made his views on abortion clear. The more important callback to “Morning in America” was the former president’s overly brief and not-so-surprising outline of his economic agenda.

The economy, and more, inflationary, was the first topic brought up by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at the debate. Right in the opening sentences of the match, Trump repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden economy and urged viewers to recall the pre-pandemic years of his tenure and support his return to office.

Inflation and tax cuts

Trump repeatedly called his first term “the greatest economy in the history of our country,” recalling a period of low inflation, but that was before the pandemic. Trump said his administration has spent the money needed to keep the economy from falling into another recession, reminiscent of the Great Depression.

Pressed by Biden about the disproportionate nature of the his 2017 tax cutsdelivering massive savings to the wealthiest demographic, Trump, after suggesting that was the only thing Biden had gotten right so far, responded: “I also cut the biggest regulations in history, which is why we got jobs.”

On the other hand, Biden insisted that Trump left him with an economy in “free fall” before he brought it back to normal – of course, Trump countered that Biden barely inherited inflation. (Americans constantly quote inflationary as if top issue facing the country. Recent inflation concerns have also sent business owners’ optimism to lowest point in a decade.)

Trump’s agenda for his second term is much the same as his first: More tax cuts, widespread deregulation and increased energy production. In his first term, Trump’s formula, while an additional more than $8 trillion on US debt, ultimately leading to low unemployment and decent wage growth, along with the low inflation the US has enjoyed since the 1990s. Trump returns to appeal to people’s wallets The US in the final minutes of the debate considered Biden an official who raised taxes.

“He wants to quadruple your taxes. He wants to quadruple everybody’s taxes,” Trump said, adding, “When we cut taxes… we saw all these companies putting money back into our country,” another said. exaggeration.

Ronald Reagan: The first MAGA

In contrast to Bidenomics, which relies on several levers to “build the economy from the bottom up,” Trump’s pitch could benefit from its radical simplicity. The call for tax cuts tapped into Americans’ general distaste for taxes and bureaucracy, all characteristics that Reagan, the first popular president, brilliantly exploited in his two terms. your period. In name-checking Reagan, who coined the slogan “Make America Great Again,” Trump not only softened the MAGA slogan but also attached himself to one of America’s slogans. most popular presidents in history.

Reagan, who took office in the wake of high inflation, unleashed total liberation trickle down economics agenda dominated the GOP for the next three decades, undoing the New Deal framework that had shaped much of the 20th century. Regan pushed biggest tax cut in American history, while spurring economic growth, accelerating growing inequality and setting the country on a path to ever-larger peacetime deficits.

In his closing statement, Biden emphasized the need for a fair tax system and said he would continue to fight inflation. Trump returns to the wars, arguing they would never have happened if he were president, while again touting his tax and regulation cuts—but if he is reelected, he will make everyone things are great again, Trump said, ending the debate.