Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden told potential donors to his campaign that his administration would end most of President Donald Trump’s multitrillion-dollar tax cuts – even though “a lot of you may not like that.”
Biden’s warning to his backers came as the candidate laid out an ambitious suite of policy goals during a virtual campaign fundraiser on Monday.
The event raised at least $2 million, CNBC reported.
Biden, who has largely avoided in-person campaign events throughout the coronavirus pandemic, said the recovery from the health crisis could present an “opportunity” to strengthen the middle class and make sweeping investments in clean energy and infrastructure.
“Folks, this is going to be really hard work and Donald Trump has made it much harder to foot the bill,” Biden said, according to a Wall Street Journal reporter’s press pool report about the event.
But even before the coronavirus crisis effectively froze the U.S. economy and sent unemployment skyrocketing, Trump’s “irresponsible sugar-high tax cuts had already pushed us into a trillion-dollar deficit,” Biden said.
“I’m going to get rid of the bulk of Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut,” Biden continued, “and a lot of you may not like that but I’m going to close loopholes like capital gains and stepped up basis.”
Biden also said he would raise the corporate tax rate to 28%, which he said would raise an estimated $1.3 trillion over the next decade. The Trump tax cuts had shrunk corporate taxes to 21% from 35%.
“We have to think as big as the challenge we face. But this is America, there is nothing we cannot do if we do it together,” Biden said. “But I think the country is ready.”
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed to this report.
