The United States is facing a economic crisis that has left the national mood low. This led to a heated debate between former President Trump and President Biden on Thursday evening, with the state of the economy taking center stage.
In the opening minutes of the debate, a wide range of economic issues were brought up, including inflation, price levels, housing shortages, the impact of Trump’s tax cuts, employment rates, and the recovery from the pandemic-induced recession.
Trump defended his tariff proposals as a way to improve the U.S. economy and compete more effectively with China. However, analyses by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that his decisions added over $8 trillion to the deficit, twice the amount that Biden’s fiscal policies would contribute.
President Biden criticized Trump for favoring the wealthy in his economic policies, pointing to large tax cuts and an increase in deficit during Trump’s term in office. The two leaders had different visions for how to address these issues and their solutions were also different which caused tension in their discussion.
The debate highlighted the sharp divide between President Biden and former President Trump on economic matters and their visions for future of country’s economy.