Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has "a lot to brag about" in his State of the Union address, pointing to falling inflation, rising wages, and renewed investment in the United States, while warning that any new tax cuts must be paired with significant reductions in federal spending.
Scott argued on "Rob Schmitt Tonight" that Trump inherited a struggling economy.
"Under the [Joe] Biden years, we lost full-time jobs every year," Scott said. "Under the Biden years, we had massive inflation. Wages didn't even come close to staying up with inflation. So, it's hard to fix that in a day."
Scott credited Trump with focusing on job growth and lowering costs.
"He's focused on American jobs. He's had success bringing American jobs back," Scott said. "Look at gas prices; the biggest driver of the economy is energy prices. Energy prices have come down."
Scott also said the president's policies are helping workers see gains in their paychecks.
"Wages are coming up," he said, attributing that in part to global investment and the "Working Families Tax Cuts Act," which includes "no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security or the ability to write off things faster so you have an incentive to build more manufacturing in this country."
Scott said he hopes inflation falls even further.
"I hope that the number is under 2%. I'd like it to be zero," he said.
Trump is expected to call for additional personal and corporate tax cuts in his address. Scott said he supports extending and expanding tax relief but emphasized that Congress must rein in spending.
"We can do the tax cuts. And I wanted to continue to do tax cuts. As governor, I cut taxes and fees 100 times. I also balanced the budget by reducing the government spending," Scott said.
"The president can't cut the spending. Congress has to cut the spending. Congress has a spending problem, a massive spending problem."
Scott noted that although the U.S. population has grown roughly 2% in recent years, federal spending has risen more than 50%.
"So, let's just go back to 2019 spending, and we'll have a balanced budget. That's all we have to do," he said. "I know Trump is on board. We've got to get Congress on board."
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