In his latest economic appeal to voters, former President Trump spoke to supporters during a campaign stop in Tucson on Thursday, urging them to end taxes on overtime pay.
The Republican candidate has already called for eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security payments but has not said how the federal government would address the resulting deficit. Still, the announcement about overtime pay drew cheers from an Arizona audience on Thursday afternoon.
“This will give people more incentive to work,” Trump said of the new proposal. “The people who work overtime are some of the hardest working people in our country, and for too long, no one in Washington has cared about them.”
Harris’ campaign responded with a scathing attack on Trump’s record as president when his administration decided to stop defending an Obama-era regulation that would affect more than 4 million workers.
“No matter how much he lies now, Donald Trump’s record and policies are clear: As president, he stole millions of dollars in wages from the workers he claims to represent,” Joseph Costello, a spokesman for the Harris-Waltz campaign, said in a statement. “He is so desperate and desperate that he will say anything to trick people into voting for him. If he is back in power, he will only care about himself, his billionaire cronies and their big corporations. The only candidate in this race who actually fights for working people is Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Trump’s rally in Tucson was his first since facing off against Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump said in a social media post early Thursday that he was again endorsing Harris. In Arizona, he likened Harris to a “boxer who lost the match,” but post-debate polls have consistently shown voters think Harris won Tuesday night’s showdown by a wide margin.
Trump also announced his victory to the Arizona audience, calling Tuesday’s debate a “monumental moment.” Trump’s performance in the debate was also well received among Republicans, who praised Harris for delivering several key insults and provoking Trump into an angry, foul-mouthed tirade.
“People said I was angry at the debate,” Trump said, “and I am angry, because he,” referring to President Biden, “allowed 21 million illegal immigrants to come into our communities.”
He blasted the debate moderators and falsely claimed Harris wanted to kill newborns and confiscate people’s guns. Trump also focused on immigration, one of his campaign priorities and a key issue in the border state.
For much of his rambling, roughly 80-minute speech, Trump delivered his usual street-speaking and campaign grievances, calling Biden the worst president in history and blasting Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Trump also defended the size of the crowd he drew, referencing comments Harris made during Tuesday’s debate urging people to attend Trump rallies and watch “go home early from fatigue and boredom.”
“She has zero fans. She has no fans. She has buses of people coming,” he told the Tucson crowd without evidence. “She pays for buses to carry people. Nobody comes by bus, I guarantee you that. Unless you own the buses.”
The event, held at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, drew the ire of the singer, who said in a statement ahead of the rally that she was “saddened to see a former president bring his hate show to Tucson, a city with deep Mexican-American roots and a bright, tolerant spirit.”
