I supported Donald Trump’s candidacy for President in 2016 because I believed that he was an entrepreneur who would usher in a new era of pragmatic, post-partisan politics. Saying that he has failed to deliver on that promise is an understatement. Instead, he demonstrated incompetence in the face of a global pandemic, succumbed to his nativist instincts and, when he lost the 2020 election, fomented an insurrection.
I am supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 because I believe she is the candidate who can break us out of the cycle of ideological governance. Her commonsense policies align most with economic growth and social inclusion.
The rally that Donald Trump hosted last weekend at Madison Square Garden was a dog whistle to Charles Lindbergh’s 1939 pro-“Americanism” rally at the same venue. The 1939 event, which featured a portrait of George Washington hung between American flags and swastikas, was a fascist, white supremacist rally cloaked in false patriotism.
The rhetoric at each rally was shockingly similar. In 1939, speakers decried “job-taking Jewish refugees” and said it is “very much American to protect the Aryan character of this nation.”
In 2024, Trump called America a “garbage can,” after previously saying immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” At his Madison Square Garden rally, he said the United States was an “occupied country.” Another Trump rally speaker, comedian Tony Hinchliffe, called Puerto Rico a “pile of garbage floating in the ocean” and said Trump’s Black supporters will be “carving watermelons” for Halloween.
If you’re willing to overlook the blatant racism and dire warnings from more than 40 former Trump officials, including his former Vice President Mike Pence and former Chief of Staff John Kelly, because you think Trump will be better for your wallet, then I’ve got news for you: Mass deportations and tariffs are destructive to the economy.
Trump’s agenda is economically regressive, benefitting the wealthiest Americans and hurting the working class while exploding the deficit. Trump’s mass deportation plan would shave off 7.9% of U.S. GDP and his tariffs would trim another 1.3% off the economy, according to Bloomberg Economics. Analyses from The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs, Moody’s, and 16 Nobel laureates have sounded similar warnings. The result of Trump’s policies would be an economic depression twice as steep as the 2008 financial crisis, not to mention immense human cruelty.
Are we supposed to take Trump “seriously but not literally” on immigration? On CBS 60 Minutes last weekend, the former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Trump, Tom Homan, made it clear that Trump is dead serious about enacting his mass deportation plan, even if it means forcibly rounding up entire families with children born in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Vice President Harris’s tax proposals would raise real incomes for Americans in the bottom 20% by 13.6%, while raising taxes marginally on the wealthiest Americans. Trump’s plan would make the wealthiest 10% of Americans richer by more than 4% in annual income while decreasing real incomes for those in the bottom 20%.
The Trump campaign has asked voters, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Humans tend to have short memories, but let’s try to remember where Trump left us. He ignored pandemic response playbooks from the Obama administration and his own administration’s officials like former Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert, leading to an unnecessary degree of death and economic hardship. Nearly $2 trillion of terribly untargeted COVID-19 stimulus under Trump laid the groundwork for the inflationary squall we experienced in the early years of the Biden-Harris administration.
While we must find additional ways to accelerate the reindustrialization of America and more rapidly grow wages for the working class, the Biden-Harris economy and stock market are performing well, even in the face of historic interest rate increases.
The S&P 500 is trading at all-time highs, gaining more than 50% since Biden was inaugurated. The U.S. economy has added more than 15 million jobs in that time, resulting in historically low unemployment, including adding 50% more manufacturing jobs than under Trump. Annualized real wage growth of 1.5% matches Trump’s pre-COVID levels. Oil production is running at 1 million more barrels per day than under Trump, resulting in now-falling gas prices.
The prevailing narrative in 2024 is that former President Trump is the better candidate for business. The fact that Trump is still a factor in the race means voters are willing to overlook his myriad legal troubles and character flaws because, as James Carville famously said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” However, the reality is that Vice President Kamala Harris has a better economic record and plan, focused on tax cuts and credits for small businesses and working-class families.
When voters feel like they’re being left behind, they vote for change. But Harris is the change we need, not Trump.
More must-read commentary published by Fortune:
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
