Fox has been doing their best to lie and distort the issue of higher marginal tax rates for pretty much forever, but they've been particularly unhappy with the fact that the majority of American voters support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal that we raise the rate to 70 percent for those with incomes over $10 million a year.
This Thursday, Trump went after Ocasio-Cortez and made the ridiculous claim that taxing the rich at the higher rate would turn the United States into Venezuela:
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, President Trump took an overt shot at New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposed 70 percent marginal tax rate on the wealthy, saying that the self-described Democratic socialist's plan would bring Venezuela's economic distress to the United States.
Trump's comment came a day after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro broke diplomatic ties with the U.S, as tens of thousands of marched the streets to protest the socialist leader's rule.
"We’re looking at Venezuela, it’s a very sad situation," Trump told reporters. "That was the richest state in all of that area, that's a big beautiful area, and by far the richest -- and now it's one of the poorest places in the world. That's what socialism gets you, when they want to raise your taxes to 70 percent."
He added: "You know, it's interesting, I've been watching our opponents -- our future opponents talk about 70 percent. No. 1, they can't do it for 70 percent, it's got to be probably twice that number. But, maybe more importantly what happens is you really have to study what's happened to Venezuela. It's a very, very sad situation."
And of course, State-Run TV, a.k.a. Fox "news" was right there to bolster those claims the following morning. Here's Fox Business Network host Charles Payne fearmongering over the higher marginal rates on this Friday's America's Newsroom with Sandra Smith and Bill Hemmer:
SMITH: So, higher taxes? Is that going to work for them?
PAYNE: It might get them elected. So that's the real question here, because people are feeling it. People are saying, yeah, you know what, and this is a revolt, guys. This is not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Elizabeth Warren.
This is people in Silicon Valley who live in San Francisco, saying yeah, you know what, maybe something is wrong here. Maybe these guys, these good guys that we thought, all of these billionaires, maybe there's something inherently wrong with this system and it's inherently unfair.
It does very well in polls. We know that historically, this stuff has never worked. In fact, this sort of taxes on assets, countries that have tried it more than likely drop it, and France being the most recent one. So it doesn't work in practice, but it does work when you have this sort of a fragment...
HEMMER: It's going to be a campaign issue.
PAYNE: Oh, it's a major 2020 campaign issue.
Yes it is, and they're already ramping up the attacks in preparation for it.
