President Biden will call out billionaires like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as other wealthy Americans while floating a major corporate tax hike during his State of the Union address Thursday night.
Biden, 81, is lagging behind presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump as polls show high disapproval among voters for his handling of the economy.
In Thursday’s speech, the president is expected to respond to that by calling for a 28% corporate tax rate in an attempt to reverse Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, senior administration officials told reporters Wednesday.
The White House in a Thursday morning fact sheet said Biden will also demand a 25% income tax on those with a net worth of more than $100 million.
National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said the proposals — which are almost certain to fail in Congress unless Biden wins re-election and Democrats gain the House of Representatives and retain the Senate — are part of Biden’s vision “to make our tax code fairer and to lower the deficit by making big corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share.”
Biden will also call for an increase in the corporate minimum tax rate to 21% for companies recording more than $1 billion in profits from its current 15% — and cap business income deductions for executives at $1 million.
He will also ask for Congress to expand a $3,600 tax credit per year per child for eligible families, as well as another tax credit for low-wage workers and pledge to extend other Trump-era tax cuts.
“None of his policies will raise taxes by a single penny on anyone making under $400,000 a year,” Brainard insisted. “While the President wants to cut taxes for working families, congressional Republicans want to cut taxes even more for the wealthy and big corporations, all while adding more than $3 trillion to the debt.”
The Biden campaign put up immense fundraising totals at the start of the year, with $42 million raised in January and $130 million cash on hand.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign has been dogged by mounting legal expenses while defending his four criminal indictments, with just $65 million cash on hand in December.
Musk, who boasts a net worth of nearly $200 billion, met with Trump in Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, according to reports, as the former president courts deep-pocketed donors for his campaign.
The CEO of Tesla has harshly criticized the Biden administration’s border policies for allowing record-breaking numbers of migrants to enter the US — and earlier this week said the president’s acts amounted to “treason.”
Musk said on X Wednesday he will not donate to either Trump or Biden ahead of the 2024 election.
Bezos also has yet to wade into the presidential race with a direct donation to either campaign.