A day after revealing details of his tax plan, Donald Trump defended the proposal against criticism in an interview with TODAY’s Matt Lauer.
“This will be a rocket ship for the economy,” the GOP front-runner explained.
Trump, who revealed the details during a news conference Monday, said the plan would raise taxes on the “very rich” and provide relief for middle-income Americans, eliminating federal taxes altogether for workers who make less than $25,000, among other things.
Trump also addressed a new poll that showed his rivals closing in on his lead and one, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, in a statistical tie. The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll also showed Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio tied for third place in the poll, still far behind Trump but gaining traction.
“This is going to be an ebb and flow. How can I continue to lead by such wide margins?” he said. “It’s an ebb and flow, but I’m leading every single poll and most of them by a substantial number.”
Trump described himself as “a practical person” who would recognize when his messages stop resonating with the public. If his campaign were to slip substantially in the polls, he said he would know when to call it quits.
“If I think for some reason it’s not going to work, then I go back to my businesses. There’s no question about that, but right now I think it’s working very, very well,” he said.
This story originally appeared on TODAY.com
Eun Kim