Trump defends new tax-cut bill amid negative polls

by Olivia Beavers - 12/24/17 4:08 PM ET

President Trump on Sunday touted provisions in the recently-passed GOP tax plan, while pushing back against polls that indicate the measure is unpopular among the U.S. public.

“The Tax Cut/Reform Bill, including Massive Alaska Drilling and the Repeal of the highly unpopular Individual Mandate, brought it all together as to what an incredible year we had,” Trump tweeted.

The Tax Cut/Reform Bill, including Massive Alaska Drilling and the Repeal of the highly unpopular Individual Mandate, brought it all together as to what an incredible year we had. Don’t let the Fake News convince you otherwise…and our insider Polls are strong!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2017

The president claimed “insider polls” indicate that support for the tax-cut plan is “strong,” while launching one of his regular attacks against the media, referring to “fake news” reports.

Several polls indicated a majority of Americans don’t like the new measure.

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An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found last week that a majority of Americans, 63 percent, say the bill will benefit the wealthy and corporations, compared to 22 percent who say the plan will help all individuals equally.

The poll also found that 24 percent of Americans think the tax plan is a good idea, while 41 percent say it’s a bad idea.

A CNN poll also out last week found that 55 percent polled oppose the tax-reform plan, while 33 percent said they favored the plan.

Democrats had waged a fierce opposition campaign against the tax-cut bill, arguing that it will help the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations get richer, while disproportionately hurting millions of middle-class households with higher taxes.

Trump earlier in the day attacked the news media for showing “fake polls just like they report fake news.”

The Fake News refuses to talk about how Big and how Strong our BASE is. They show Fake Polls just like they report Fake News. Despite only negative reporting, we are doing well – nobody is going to beat us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2017