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President\u00a0Donald Trump, from a toss-up congressional district in New York on Friday, began testing his midterm message that was ostensibly on the economy.<\/p>\n
But he veered off-topic right from the start, going off on tangents about voter identification, crime in cities, transgender women in sports and \u201cDumocrats,\u201d his new chosen moniker for the opposition party. He complained that toiletries are locked up in pharmacies, making them harder to buy, and polled the audience on what he should call his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n
Eventually, he landed on the topic of the speech, telling the crowd that he and his party worked to slash taxes and increase take-home pay, while Democrats opposed the effort at every turn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cut your taxes, cut the taxes on workers, families, small business, who are the soul of this state,\u201d Trump said to the audience at Rockland Community College. Listing off the various provisions of the tax law, the president said: \u201cThese are all Republican tax cuts. The Democrats voted against every one of these tax cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump traveled to the Hudson Valley area to appear with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is up for reelection in what will be one of the most closely watched\u00a0House races this November, for an event meant to promote the\u00a0tax law Trump signed last year, particularly the quadrupling of the deduction for state and local taxes, which is critical in a high-tax state like New York.<\/p>\n
Trump called Lawler \u201cfantastic\u201d and mused about how the congressman was a \u201cpain in the ass\u201d as he badgered the administration on expanding the deduction.<\/p>\n
He pulled Lawler onstage during the event, and the congressman thanked the president \u201cfor working with me to deliver a big win\u201d for the people in his district. He said that more than 90% of the people in his district were able to fully deduct their state and local taxes.<\/p>\n
Also appearing with the president at the event Friday was Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-backed Republican candidate for New York governor. Trump said, \u201cGuys like Mike Lawler, guys like Bruce Blakeman, you put them in, they\u2019ll turn it around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trying to reverse a slumping approval rating<\/p>\n
The White House has been looking for more opportunities to highlight Trump\u2019s economic accomplishments as his approval rating on the economy has slumped. About one-third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the economy, according to\u00a0a new AP-NORC poll, down slightly from 40% at the start of Trump\u2019s second term. Trump had promised to bring prices down, but gasoline prices have surged this year due to the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
Lawler is just one of three House Republicans who\u00a0represent a district won by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris\u00a0in 2024. Unlike the other two \u2014 retiring Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who\u2019s been a critic of Trump policies \u2014 Lawler has chosen to embrace the polarizing president in hopes of not alienating Republican voters who support the party\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, the people who hate the president \u2014 and that\u2019s their sole basis for their vote \u2014 are likely never voting for me, and you know, obviously, you need to turn out your base, and you need people energized,\u201d Lawler told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the White House congressional picnic earlier this week. \u201cMoreover, I have a record in my district that is one I\u2019m very proud of, and a record that appeals to a broad middle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawler, wearing a red ball cap emblazoned with \u201cMr. SALT,\u201d the acronym for the\u00a0state and local tax deduction\u00a0he fought to include in the bill, added, \u201cI am confident that I will be reelected on my own merits and my own record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump established a SALT cap in 2017 through his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Last year\u2019s law\u00a0expanded the SALT deduction\u00a0to $40,000 from $10,000 after arduous negotiations with Republicans, including Lawler, whose district has high local taxes. The law also raised the average tax refund for New Yorkers to more than $3,800, according to data provided by the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy constituents were seeing anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 refund checks, which is pretty massive,\u201d said Lawler, who said he wanted to give Trump one of his \u201cMr. SALT\u201d ball caps.<\/p>\n
A competitive House race in New York<\/p>\n
Trump\u00a0formally endorsed Lawler for reelection\u00a0last year, although it came at a time when the congressman was publicly mulling a run for governor of New York.\u00a0The endorsement\u00a0was viewed as a way to keep Lawler in a reelection bid rather than opening up a competitive House seat.<\/p>\n
Five Democrats are vying for the party\u2019s nomination to compete against Lawler in the general election. The Democratic primary is June 23.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing says \u2018I don\u2019t understand my district\u2019 quite like Mike Lawler bringing Donald Trump to NY-17 to tout a disastrous economy that\u2019s crushing working families at every turn,\u201d said Riya Vashi, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.<\/p>\n
National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson disputed that, arguing that Trump\u2019s Friday appearance will \u201cabsolutely\u201d help.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis poll numbers are pretty good in Lawler\u2019s district,\u201d said Hudson, a North Carolina congressman. The NRCC has been polling in competitive districts and Hudson said the \u201cpresident\u2019s numbers are good. Democratic numbers are tanking.\u201d<\/p>\n
The remarks were an official White House event and not a campaign one, said Lawler, who noted that more than 5,000 people registered to attend in the first 12 hours that a sign-up was available.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
#Trump #supposed #talk #economy #asked #toiletries #locked #pharmacies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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