President Trump suggested he might be interested in pushing for policy that addresses the widening income gap in the U.S., but didn’t suggest a plan.
Trump commented in a retweet about how much some prominent billionaires have increased their net worth during the coronavirus pandemic, while tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs.
Trump tweeted a Business Insider graphic and video that compared the 40 million Americans filing for unemployment during the pandemic to billionaires whose net worth, according to the video, increased by half a trillion dollars.
“I actually agree with this,” Trump tweeted. “Too much income disparity. Changes must be made, and soon!”
At least one of Trump’s regular foils — Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc., and publisher of the Washington Post newspaper — was featured, as well as Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk.
The video also claimed that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a large donor to Republican causes, saw his net worth swell by $5 billion during the pandemic. The Bloomberg Rich List, though, shows Adelson’s fortune down $11 billion for the year to date.
Some economists have said income disparity in the U.S. became worse after the 2017 Republican tax law championed by Trump, which cut the top tax rate for high-income earners.
