In his latest economic pitch to voters, former President Trump on Thursday called for no taxes on overtime pay while speaking to supporters at a campaign stop in Tucson.
The Republican nominee has already called for an end to taxes on tips and on Social Security benefits, though he has not addressed how the federal government would address the resulting deficit. Still, the announcement about overtime pay drew cheers from the Arizona crowd Thursday afternoon.
“That gives people more incentive to work,” Trump said about his new proposal. “The people who work overtime are among the hardest-working citizens of our country, and for too long, no one in Washington has been looking out for them.”
The Harris campaign responded by blasting Trump’s record as president, when his administration decided not to continue defending an Obama-era rule that would have extended overtime benefits to more than 4 million workers.
“No matter how much he lies now, Donald Trump’s record and agenda are clear — as president, he stole millions of dollars of wages from the workers he purports to represent,” Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement. “He is desperate and scrambling and saying whatever it takes to try to trick people into voting for him. If he takes power again, he will only look out for himself and his billionaire buddies and their big corporations. There’s only one candidate in this race who will actually fight for workers: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Trump’s appearance in Tucson marked his first rally since Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump said in a social media post earlier Thursday he would not debate her again. In Arizona, he likened Harris, who had called for another debate, to “a prizefighter who lost the fight” — although post-debate polls have consistently shown that voters by wide margins believe she won Tuesday night’s face-off.
Trump also called Tuesday’s debate “a monumental time,” telling the Arizona audience that he won. His debate performance was widely criticized, even among Republican allies, who lauded Harris for landing several key insults and baiting Trump into delivering several angry, discursive rants.
“People said I was angry at the debate,” Trump said. “And yes I am angry, because he” — referring to President Biden — “allowed 21 million illegal aliens invading our communities.”
He lambasted the debate moderators and falsely claimed Harris wanted to kill babies after birth and confiscate people’s guns. Trump also hammered on immigration — one of his campaign’s favorite issues and an important one in this border state.
Throughout most of his rambling, roughly 80-minute speech, Trump relied on his usual stump speech and campaign gripes, calling Biden the worst president in history and decrying Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. He also defended the size of his crowds, referencing a comment Harris made during Tuesday’s debate, inviting people to attend Trump’s rallies and watch people “leave early out of exhaustion and boredom.”
“Her crowds are zero. She’s got no crowds. They bus people in,” he told the Tucson crowd, without evidence. “They pay buses to get people in. Nobody here came in on a bus, I guarantee you that. Unless you own it.”
The event, held in the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, drew the ire of its namesake. The singer said in a statement ahead of the rally, “It saddens me to see the former President bring his hate show to Tucson, a town with deep Mexican-American roots and a joyful, tolerant spirit.”
