Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday appeared to criticize former President Trump over his recent comments about child care.
“The other day when Donald Trump was asked a question about child care, it wasn't even clear that he understood the question,” Buttigieg said Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union” with anchor Dana Bash.
The Transportation Secretary appeared to be referring to comments the former president made at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday. Asked if he would commit to “prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable,” the former president gave a two-minute response but did not offer any specific legislation he would propose. He said tariffs would cover child care costs.
“When you talk about the kinds of numbers that I'm talking about, child care is child care, so I think we need to do it here in this country. We have to,” Trump said. “But when you compare the kinds of numbers that I'm talking about with the numbers that you would get if you taxed a foreign country at a level that they're not accustomed to, they're going to get used to it pretty quickly.”
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates noted in an interview Friday that economists from all political parties have said tariffs will increase the prices of goods, including child care supplies.
“If you have any idea what that answer means, you're a better detective than I am, because these tariffs that he wants to apply across the board amount to a $4,000 tax increase on working families,” Bates said.
In an interview with CNN, Buttigieg said Harris “has a plan to expand the child tax credit and ensure paid family leave in this country, two things that would be here right now if Republicans hadn't blocked them.”
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign.
