Renowned economist Larry Kudlow says former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and other GOP candidates flailing in the polls must begin talking about how they'll grow the American economy if he hope to get back on top.
"Jeb and others who are trailing really need an economic growth message, a strong one," Kudlow said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"I mean if you worry about unfair trading with China, the way to deal with that is to slash the American corporate tax rate from 40 to 15."
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A Monmouth University poll released Monday has Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson tied for first place among Iowa Republicans, followed by Carly Fiorina.
In recent weeks, Trump has talked about the possibility of raising taxes, a possibility that Kudlow, a senior contributor at CNBC, said doesn't gel with some of his past statements.
"Donald has made some statements that he would raise taxes on himself, he wants to go after the hedge funds, the so-called carried interest investment taxes where they get the capital gains tax at 15 percent rather than the corporate tax at 40 percent," Kudlow said.
"On the other hand … in his 2011 book, Trump has a section on taxes that's really very supply side pro-growth. He wants to abolish the corporate tax and lower cap gains and dividends, get rid of the estate tax, and really slash income tax rates across the board. So it's a sort of question, who's the real Donald Trump?"
Kudlow said he is waiting to see what Trump will say when he releases his policy papers later this month.
"I don't agree with Donald Trump about tariffs and trade wars. I don't agree with Donald Trump about mass deportation. But, he is a successful businessman, he does understand tax incentives, and I'm not writing him off yet," Kudlow said.
"I want to see what his plan is because it might be a big positive surprise. I'm going to give him credit and I'm going to wait."
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