Politics

Nearly 100 top business leaders back Harris for president

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Dozens of the nation’s top corporate leaders, including Roger Altman, Mark Cuban, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Magic Johnson and Ted Leonsis, have collectively endorsed Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign, citing her ability to “advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability and a sound business environment.”

“Her election is the best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy,” the business leaders wrote in a joint letter obtained by The Hill on Friday and first reported by CNBC. “With Kamala Harris in the White House, the business community can be confident that it will have a President who wants American industries to thrive.”

The list includes former Treasury Secretaries W. Michael Blumenthal, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers; the founders of Essence magazine, Zillow, LinkedIn and Napster; and former and current CEOs of Ford, Xerox, Starbucks and 21st Century Fox.

View the full list of business leaders who signed the Harris endorsement letter here.

Harris’s and former President Trump’s campaigns have spent recent days highlighting their differing economic agendas. Polls have consistently shown that economic issues rank among the most pressing concerns for voters heading into November.

During an event in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Harris outlined her plans to build what she’s dubbed an “Opportunity Economy” if elected, including new tax breaks and incentives for small businesses and a change to the capital gains tax.

“We know, when the government encourages investment, it leads to broad-based economic growth and it creates jobs, which makes our economy stronger,” she said. “My plan will make our tax code more fair while also prioritizing investment and innovation.”

Meanwhile, Trump outlined his own economic agenda during an event in New York City on Thursday, reiterating many of the efforts from his previous term and campaigns. He said he would push an extension of the business tax cuts that the Republican-controlled Congress helped him pass in 2017 and also vowed to roll back some of the Biden administration’s policies and regulations.

Trump also again stressed that he would lean on tariffs to target companies that rely heavily on other countries for manufacturing goods. Many economists have warned that such tariffs would essentially transfer into taxes on consumers through price increases. Trump pushed back on that analysis during his speech to the Economic Club of New York.

“The anti-tariff people, many of them I believe, honestly, work for these other countries in some form, get tremendous amounts of lobbying money and other money because it doesn’t make sense what they’re saying,” he said.

His plan includes tougher anti-immigration policies as an economic interest and would eliminate some environmental regulations, he said.

“I’m promising low taxes; low regulations; low energy costs; low interest rates; secure borders; low, low, low crime and surging incomes for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,” he said. “Kamala Harris will take more money out of Americans’ pockets. My plan will leave the typical family with many thousands of dollars more than they have right now.”

Harris and Trump will go head-to-head in their first televised debate Tuesday.