Top senator says Trump called to tell Democrats 'rich people get hurt' in the GOP tax plan

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Top senator says Trump called to tell Democrats 'rich people get hurt' in the GOP tax plan

donald trump

Getty Images/Pool

President Donald Trump

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  • President Donald Trump told Democrats that "rich people get hurt" by the Republican tax bill, according to Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
  • That statement conflicts with virtually every analysis of the legislation - Republicans' own messaging on the bill.


President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Democratic senators and claimed the GOP tax bill would negatively affect wealthier Americans, according to a top lawmaker.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said that during a call with Democratic senators representing states that voted for Trump about the new Republican tax reform plan, the president said that "rich people get hurt in this bill."

A spokesperson for Brown said the senator also raised two pieces of legislation that would expand access to the Earned Income Tax Credit and reward businesses for keeping jobs in America.

"The President again said he likes Senator Brown's ideas," the Brown spokesperson told Business Insider. "The President also underscored he would prefer to have a bipartisan bill. Senator Brown underscored that including these two bills could go a long way toward bringing Democrats on board and open the door to passing a broad bipartisan bill."

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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trumps comment runs contrary to messaging from House Republicans, who have said their bill - the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) - would reduce taxes on Americans at every level of income.

It also goes against nearly every distributional analysis of the bill. According to an analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation released Tuesday, people making over $1 million in 2019 would see an average tax cut of $41,557 in that year.

The JCT also projected that 75.7% of people making over $1 million would get a tax cut of at least $500 in 2019 under the House legislation.