Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, previously called for Americans with children to receive a lower tax rate than those without kids.
In an unearthed 2021 interview with political talk show host Charlie Kirk obtained by ABC News, Vance argued that the tax code should “reward” certain behaviors and “punish” others.
“Let’s tax the things that are bad and not tax the things that are good. If you’re making $100,000, $400,000 a year and you’ve got three kids, you should pay a different, lower tax rate than if you’re making the same amount of money and you don’t have any kids,” Vance said.
Vance spokesperson William Martin appeared to walk back those comments by arguing that Vance was essentially talking about child tax credits.
The Trump-Vance campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
Vance’s comments have surfaced as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris signaled her intent to retain a key tax pledge made by President Biden.
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign confirmed to Tax Notes on July 26 that Harris will vow not to raise taxes on those earning less than $400,000 a year if elected.
While Biden made the $400,000 promise an integral piece of his concept of creating a tax system that “rewards work, not wealth,” it was unclear if Harris would stick to the pledge given her previous support for raising taxes on those earning at least $100,000 a year in order to expand Medicare.