Trump advisers slam Harris economic plan: ‘Something out of Venezuela or Cuba’

The Trump campaign on Friday lambasted Vice President Harris’s economic agenda rollout, equating it to socialist policies implemented in countries such as Cuba and Venezuela and arguing it would not effectively reduce costs for consumers.

The former president’s campaign held a call with reporters ahead of Harris’s speech in North Carolina, where she was set to detail her push for a federal ban on price gouging, expanded child tax credits and increased housing supply.

“Her policies rival some of the most socialist and authoritarian models from world history. Instead of unleashing American energy and reducing the burden on our people, she would impose price controls that are something out of Venezuela or Cuba,” senior Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes told reporters.

Trump officials were particularly critical of a federal ban on price gouging, equating it to government-imposed price controls.

Harris’s plan includes pushing for the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate how corporations exploit consumers by raising prices for profit, and she will call for increased support for small businesses that can break into the market and compete against major meat processors.

“This policy is completely preposterous,” said Kevin Hassett, an economist who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers when former President Trump was in office.

“The thing is, though, is that it also reveals that if they’re willing to have the government take over the pricing of things it reveals that all of the rollback we saw in the last two weeks of the very extreme far-left policies that she supported in the past, that that rollback was just inaccurate,” Hassett added.

In addition to her price-gouging proposal, Harris’s plan calls for beefing up the child tax credit to provide a $6,000 tax cut to families with newborn children, as Democrats have sought to drive a contrast with Republicans on the issue in recent weeks.

It also includes a push for the construction of millions of new housing units to meet demand, and $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.

Stephen Moore, who advises Trump on economic policy, argued Harris’s proposal to aid first-time homebuyers does not address the root causes of why it is so difficult for many Americans to purchase a house.

He noted the average interest rate for a mortgage is 6.5 percent, significantly higher than it was during Trump’s final year in office.

“The idea of giving people more money to make their down payment is putting a Band-Aid on a cancer patient,” Moore said. “The big problem is people can’t afford their mortgage payments because they’re so much higher than they were when Trump was president.”

Friday’s speech will mark the first major policy rollout for Harris since she launched her presidential bid in late July after President Biden ended his candidacy. The Harris campaign has framed her proposals as a stark contrast from Trump’s platform, which includes an extension of the 2017 tax cuts, deregulation, and imposing tariffs on imported goods, the latter of which economists have warned could further drive up prices.

Hassett declined to engage with one reporter’s question on Friday about whether tariffs would worsen inflation.

“Having a future call about tariffs and President Trump’s agenda is something the campaign is eager to set up. But we’re instructed to focus on Kamala’s proposals today,” he said.