RNC Convention Day 2: Larry Kudlow Says More Tax Cuts in Store Coming Out of Covid-19

On day 2 of the Republican National Convention 2020, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that more tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks will be in store under Trump in a second term, with payroll tax cuts for higher wages, income tax cuts for the middle class, capital gains cuts for investment, productivity and jobs. He said it’s no time for about $4 trillion in higher taxes that Biden proposes, promising to apply them only to the wealthy.

“Coming out of the deep pandemic, who in their right mind would pick the pockets of taxpayers and drain money from their wallet s and purses?” Kudlow said. “Look, our economic choice is very clear: Do you want economic health, prosperity, opportunity and optimism, or do you want to turn back to the dark days of stagnation, recession and pessimism?”

Republicans opened the second night of their convention with Donald Trump pardoning a reformed bank robber, in a program highlighted by first lady Melania Trump speaking from the Rose Garden after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo delivers a pitch for Trump taped during a taxpayer-financed visit to Jerusalem.

In the evening’s opening minutes President Trump appeared from the White House with a prerecorded video of him issuing a pardon, an unbridled presidential power he relishes.

The pardon went to Jon Ponder, the ex-convict who founded Hope for Prisoners Inc., a nonprofit designed to help former inmates re-enter society. Ponder appears in the video along with Richard Beasley, the former FBI agent who arrested him and has become a close friend. Trump has touted his success in enacting criminal-justice reform and blamed Democratic opponent Joe Biden for legislation that increased federal sentencing guidelines.

Later, Trump was to be seen presiding over a prerecorded naturalization ceremony.

One scheduled speaker, Mary Ann Mendoza, was removed from the lineup after she tweeted a conversation that included references to a Jewish plot to enslave the world. She was to speak about her son, a police officer, who was killed by a drunken driver who was an undocumented immigrant with a criminal record, the campaign said.

In an appearance critics say is politicizing U.S. diplomacy, Pompeo will praise Trump for leading “bold initiatives in nearly every corner of the world” to “keep us safe and our freedoms intact,” according to excerpts released in advance by Trump’s re-election campaign.

Two of the president’s children, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump, will be among the evening’s speakers saluting the president’s handling of issues including trade and immigration.

With “land of opportunity” as the theme, the convention spotlighted an array of Trump supporters -- from a Maine lobsterman to an anti-abortion activist and from the granddaughter of evangelist Billy Graham to the Democratic mayor of Eveleth, Minnesota.

The speakers -- including Jason Joyce, the lobster fisherman who said he didn’t support Trump in 2016 out of skepticism he was a true conservative --- said the president kept his campaign promises, strengthened the Supreme Court with his two appointments and put in place policies that have benefited blue-collar workers and farmers.

Despite promises of an upbeat convention, Monday night’s opening session was dominated by dark images of “radical socialists” taking over the country if Biden wins the November election and glowing tributes to Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 177,000 Americans.

Melania Trump is scheduled to close Tuesday’s program with remarks live from the White House Rose Garden, which was recently renovated in a project she oversaw. The president and a small audience are expected to be there as well.

The Slovenian-born first lady has concentrated on a few favorite issues including her “Be Best” campaign against online bullying among youths, a contrast with her husband’s sharp-edged Twitter attacks. She will also talk about being a mother and why her husband should have another four years in office, her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, told reporters on Tuesday.

Melania Trump will seek to avoid the controversy she generated from her speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland because of suggestions that portions were lifted from Michelle Obama’s address to the Democratic convention in 2008.

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