Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Wednesday that Republicans and President Donald Trump are helping working families "keep money in their pocket" through tax changes that target tips, overtime pay, small businesses and Social Security recipients.
Appearing on "National Report" after Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night, Donalds framed the GOP agenda as a direct response to what he described as economic failures under the previous administration.
"Inflation was rampant" under President Joe Biden, Donalds said. "Our economy was not growing. Wages were down, not secure, border crime in our streets. The world was a mess."
He added, "There was a lot of work that had to be done very quickly," and said Trump "came in on day one with his team and his cabinet, and they've been moving incredibly fast, fixing this, doing the smart, common sense things."
Donalds pointed to environmental policy as one example, saying the Environmental Protection Agency under administrator Lee Zeldin "have done the work of actually reversing Joe Biden's CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standards," which he said were "increasing the cost of manufacturing automobiles."
"When you increase the cost because of liberal policy, it is borne by the American consumer when they go to buy a car," Donalds said.
Donalds focused primarily on tax provisions touted in Trump's speech, including "no tax on tips" and "no tax on overtime," as well as what Trump described as the largest tax cut for Social Security recipients in American history.
Asked about Democrats who opposed the legislation, Donalds said, "I think the stupidest thing from the Democrats is that they stood up and applauded the fact that they did not want to cut taxes for tip workers in our country."
He argued tipped work extends beyond restaurants.
"It's not just your waitress anymore at a restaurant," Donalds said. "It is also the people who do DoorDash, who do Uber all across the country."
"You go into a Jimmy John's and you go pay at the counter and you know what they want to see," he said. "Will you add a tip to your bill?"
"The tip share economy is growing in the United States with people who are working hard every single day to make ends meet," Donalds said.
"And you had Democrats in the chamber last night applaud the fact that they voted no," he added. "So they voted against middle-class families."
Donalds also said small businesses would have faced higher taxes if Congress had not acted.
"Small business owners in the United States saw their taxes remain under tax policy last year," he said. "If Congress did not act with President Trump, taxes on small business owners in the United States, mom and pops, they would have gone up."
"Democrats voted to increase small business taxes in the United States," Donalds said.
He contrasted what he called "common sense Republican policy that lets Americans keep money in their pocket" with what he described as Democratic efforts "to continue to tax and spend."
"They talk about the rich and they talk about billionaires," Donalds said. "That's a lie."
"The truth is, they want to raise taxes on everybody and redistribute wealth," he said. "It has never worked. And Donald Trump's solutions do work."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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